Cleveland Browns safety Rodney McLeod is unfortunately out of the season with an injury suffered in Sunday’s 13-10 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. The paycheck from the final game he’ll play in this season is dinged up, too.
Per the NFL’s weekly release, McLeod has been fined $7,319 for this hit on Steelers WR/PR Calvin Austin III that occurred in the second quarter of last weekend’s game. McLeod, No. 26 in the clip below, hit Austin high to take him to the ground. He was not flagged for this collision but given the league’s fine, it’s an admission that he should’ve been.
McLeod finished the game with five tackles. Unfortunately, he suffered a season-ending biceps injury in the game, placed on IR earlier in the week and will be out the remainder of the year.
On the year, McLeod recorded 29 tackles (two for a loss) and one pass deflection. An NFL veteran in his 12th year in the league, he signed over from the Indianapolis Colts in the offseason. He had played in all ten games for the Browns prior to the injury. For his career, McLeod has appeared in 166 games, racking up 718 tackles with 18 interceptions.
Pittsburgh and Cleveland split their season series. The Steelers won 26-22 in Week two before the Browns got their revenge in a 13-10 contest last Sunday. With the win, the Browns bumped the Steelers in the division, now 7-3 and sitting in second place in the AFC North. Pittsburgh fell to 6-4 and third place. The two will battle it out the rest of the season in a contested division that likely won’t be determined until the final two weeks of 2023.
All NFL fines are set by the CBA and increased by a predetermined percentage each year. Fine money is not kept by the league but given to charities of the NFL’s choosing. Two Steelers were fined in this game in OLB Alex Highsmith and CB Patrick Peterson.
