Cleveland Browns safety Briean Boddy-Calhoun says he didn't intend to injure New York Giants receiver Odell Beckham Jr. on Monday night.
Boddy-Calhoun went low to tackle the wideout early in the second quarter and it resulted in an ankle injury that sidelined Beckham for the rest of the evening. The play has drawn criticism from Boddy-Calhoun's NFL peers.
Related: NFL players condemn 'ugly' preseason hit on Giants' Beckham
"I'm just thinking hit him low, make sure I don't get no fine or nothing," Boddy-Calhoun explained after the game, according to Dan Labbe of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
"I was just trying to hit him low, hit him in the target area, which is from the neck to the knee, just anywhere in there, but I wasn't aiming at anything specific."
It was actually the second time in the game that Boddy-Calhoun tackled Beckham low. He chopped the player down by diving at his ankles on a reception in the first quarter.
"I cannot have a teammate next to me playing that way," Giants safety Landon Collins said of the play that injured Beckham.
"He had about 30 seconds to make a play on the ball in the air. He could've made a play on the ball, could've hit him high, but he chose a different route. I can't respect him."
