Broncos’ Phillip Lindsay got ejected for throwing punches in a pile vs. Ravens

Running back Phillip Lindsay has been a pleasant surprise for the Denver Broncos so far in 2018, but the team lost him to an ejection early in Week 3.

After Baltimore Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs forced a fumble, Lindsay dove in to a pile with several of his teammates to try to get the ball. But his attempt to recover the fumble got a little wacky when he started punching at the football in the middle of the pile of humanity.

If Lindsay was trying to punch the football out, it’s hard to tell. It also looks like he may have just been wailing on a guy.

After the game, Lindsay explained that he was going after the ball and that he “went to try and hit it out.”

The CBS crew disagreed with the ejection.

Punching at the ball isn’t uncommon. Former Bears defensive back Charles Tillman made a career out of using his “Peanut Punch” to force fumbles. Seahawks safety Earl Thomas has used a karate chop on more than one occasion to jar the ball loose.

But it’s not hard to see why Lindsay got booted.

Unlike Tillman and Thomas knocking the ball loose in space, Lindsay was firing punches into a mass of humanity. It wouldn’t set a good precedent if the NFL allowed players to just fire off several hard punches in pile ups to try to recover a fumble.

Lindsay rushed for 178 yards in the first two games of the year, but finished Week 3 with 20 yards on four carries. It’ll be Royce Freeman and Devontae Booker leading the at running back way in Lindsay’s absence.