Brandon Meriweather Reportedly Fined $42K for Hit on Eddie Lacy

Washington Redskins safety Brandon Meriweather has reportedly been fined $42,000 for the helmet-to-helmet hit he laid on Green Bay Packers running back Eddie Lacy in Sunday's Week 2 game.

A source with knowledge of the situation confirmed the news to Mike Jones of the Washington Post on Wednesday:

The hit resulted in the rookie Lacy sustaining a concussion, but Meriweather was up quickly, celebrating the pulverizing collision. It was Meriweather's first game action since November, so perhaps he was just eager to make a play.

However, he apparently didn't learn a lesson from that occurrence.

When he tried to tackle Lacy's replacement, James Starks, later in the game, Meriweather again made helmet-to-helmet contact, suffering a concussion of his own. That didn't help his team's defensive cause, as Washington lost on the road 38-20.  

Being slammed with this heavy of a fine is something Meriweather seems intent on commenting about in the near future on social media, per Jones:

Meriweather has become rather notorious for launching himself at opposing offensive playmakers.

The 29-year-old received a $20,000 fine in 2011 for a helmet-to-helmet hit as a member of the Chicago Bears. Before then, he was hit with a $40,000 for two similar hits as a member of the New England Patriots, all according to Chris Chase of the USA Today.

None of those fines were as steep as this one, though. That is presumably at least somewhat because of his past and for the perpetual increased emphasis on player safety.

It will be interesting to see how Meriweather responds. Given his history of initiating clashes that result in transgressions, he doesn't have much of a foundation from which to defend himself.

Meriweather played just one game in 2012 before tearing his ACL, making his brief tenure as a starting safety in the nation's capital neither productive nor positive to date.

Whatever the consequences are of this situation or whether or not Meriweather appeals remains to be seen. One thing is certain: Washington needs to gets its act together on defense, as the unit ranks dead-last in the league in total yards allowed and 31st in points allowed.