National Football League

NFL fines Broncos' Miller $15K

Published Nov. 11, 2011 12:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

Denver Broncos linebacker Von Miller been fined $15,000 by the NFL on Friday for roughing the passer.

The rookie hit Raiders quarterback Carson Palmer in the chest area with his helmet last Sunday during Denver's victory.

The league also confirmed that Steelers safety Ryan Clark was fined $40,000 for his hit on Baltimore tight end Ed Dickson, and Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis was docked $20,000 for unnecessary roughness. Both players announced those fines earlier this week.

Clark also was fined $15,000 the previous week for hitting New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski out of bounds.

Lewis' fine came for his hit on Steelers receiver Hines Ward in the head and neck area.

Clark was enraged when he spoke about the fine on Wednesday.

''This is the worst, period, point blank,'' Clark said.

The Ravens were driving late in the first half when Joe Flacco threw to Dickson running up the seam. Dickson got his hands on the ball before Clark smashed into him. Dickson wasn't hurt on the play, though it appeared his facemask collided into the back of Clark's helmet before the ball squirted free.

Clark was flagged for unnecessary roughness and the 15-yard penalty helped the Ravens end the half with a field goal.

''There wasn't anything malicious about it,'' Clark said. ''It wasn't a spear. It wasn't a forearm to the head. It wasn't any of those things and to be fined $40,000 for that? To me it's either targeting me as a single player or it's targeting this team.''

The Steelers have been fined 13 times for more than $182,000 this season.

The 16-year veteran Lewis says he understands the league's effort to protect players, but ''it won't change not one way how I play this week no matter what the fine is. You can't stop playing defense the way defense has always been created to play.''