Jon Beason hitting an all-time low

The Carolina Panthers' most recent loss left linebacker Jon Beason feeling as low as he's been in his 25 years.

But Beason figures to feel even worse in a few days.

After the Panthers' 34-3 loss to New Orleans on Sunday, Beason said he expects to be fined for his third-quarter hit on Saints receiver Marques Colston. The hit drew an unnecessary roughness penalty on Beason for striking a defenseless receiver in the head.

"I'll just get a cherry on top of everything," said Beason, referring to the expected fine. "You live with it. At the end of the day, I'm not going to pull up. I'm not going to stop how I play. My job is to stop people, and that's why I'm here at the highest level."

The NFL stiffened its penalties for illegal hits to the head and neck area last month after several highly publicized collisions in Week 6 resulted in concussions to a number of players. Commissioner Roger Goodell increased fines and threatened to suspend players who break the rule.
"I just work here, man. I don't make the rules. I don't enforce them," Beason said. "At the end of the day, the person who will probably fine me is the person who I have to call for an appeal. So it's a dictatorship."

Beason, whose nine tackles tied linebacker James Anderson for the team high, was flagged after Colston came across the middle to catch a 7-yard pass from Drew Brees on second-and-2. Beason appeared to hit Colston in the helmet with his forearm.

The penalty moved the ball to the Panthers' 8-yard line. The Saints added a field goal four plays later to increase their lead to 20-3.

"It wasn't a play where the ball was 40 yards downfield. It was a 4-yard route. I don't know what I'm supposed to do," Beason said. "I'm cool with Marques. Afterwards, we patted each other on the butt. He smiled at me. I smiled at him.

"But like I said, I just work here. When you catch the ball or someone's near me with the ball, I'm supposed to try to tackle them, I think. I think that's the description of a defensive player."

Brees described Beason's tackle as a "slam."

"It was just a slam," he said. "I just tried to put it on (Colston's) body, and he made a great catch and took a big hit and took a penalty."

Carolina coach John Fox said fans should expect to see more of those types of penalties with the NFL's emphasis on illegal hits.

"Those are going to get called as the season wears on," Fox said. "I'm not going to comment on the individual play. I've seen a lot of those calls throughout the season. I think you're going to see a lot moving forward."

As the Panthers try to move forward from what Beason called their "most embarrassing" loss this year, the two-time Pro Bowler struggled to explain his team's 1-7 start.

"There's a lot of questions and, honestly, there's no answers," said Beason, a team captain. "I don't really know what to say or how to address anything."

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(charlotteobserver.com)