Del Rio blasts Broncos' Stewart for 'vicious hit' on Amari Cooper

Oakland Raiders head coach Jack Del Rio was not pleased with the hit by Denver Broncos safety Darian Stewart that gave receiver Amari Cooper a concussion and a sprained ankle on Sunday.

Stewart received a flag on the play for unnecessary roughness as Cooper was knocked out of the contest and could not return, though Del Rio expects the league to dish out further punishment to the eighth-year safety.

"It was a vicious hit," Del Rio said Monday, according to ESPN's Paul Gutierrez. "The kind we're trying to remove from our game, quite frankly. You see less and less of those. I'm sure the league will take a hard look at it.

"Those are the kinds of impact hits that don't need to be a part of our game right now. The guy is clearly defenseless and got targeted right in the head. There's a chance to hit in the strike zone and be somewhere else and not be there like that."

Stewart was fined $18,231 for a helmet-to-helmet tackle on Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton in the 2016 season opener.