Patriots players furious with hit that injured Demario Douglas

BOSTON -- Patriots rookie Demario Douglas left Sunday's game against the Giants after he was on the receiving end of a violent, high-speed high hit while attempting to return a punt in the second half.

The hit involved Cam Brown hitting Douglas in the facemask with his forearm in a clothesline fashion, sending Douglas' head and neck backward in a violent manner, and causing Doulgas to fumble the ball.

Douglas remained down with a head injury, and though he eventually made his way off the field, he did not return to the field after sustaining that injury. (The Boston Herald's Andrew Callahan reported that it's not a concussion.)

After the game, which the Giants won 10-7, Patriots players expressed some outrage over that type of hit not being penalized.

"It's just crazy, you know, because they preach all this player safety stuff, but then that doesn't get flagged. But I've been fined maybe two or three times for clean hits. So that pissed me off, too," Peppers said in the locker room. "[The officlas] even looked up on the Jumbotron and saw it, and there was still no flag. But you can't say anything about the refs in this league. So it is what it is. But to me, that's a joke. You can't say you care about player safety and not flag that play."

Wide receiver DeVante Parker was even more upset by the non-call.

"That's some bulls---. The refs need to do something about that, because that's some bulls---," Parker told MassLive's Chris Mason. "They need to either through a flag or something. He better get fined or something. This ain't no [expletive] wrestling. "Yeah, I was [surprised there was no penalty]. They need get on their mother [expletive] job. Yeah, I'm cussing. I don't care. It pissed me off."

Head coach Bill Belichick opted to not answer whether he believed the hit warranted a penalty, telling a reporter that they'd have to ask the officials about any calls or non-calls from the game.

The play certainly looked like a penalty, but whether it actually falls under any of the league's standards for penalty-worthy hits is a fair question. The rules do state that players are prohibited from "striking, swinging at, or clubbing the head, neck or face of an opponent with the wrists, arms, elbows or hands." This particular tackle would seemingly fall under that description, and the injury to Douglas showed why it's too violent a hit to be allowed.