Myles Garrett likely facing suspension after hitting Mason Rudolph in the head with his own helmet

An ugly evening of Thursday Night Football had a particularly ugly ending as Myles Garrett was ejected for hitting Mason Rudolph in the head with his own helmet. It was a wild ending that is surely going to result in at least one lengthy suspension, and likely multiple other suspensions.

One the penultimate play of the Steelers final offensive drive, Mason Rudolph threw a short pass to Trey Edmunds. Garrett was attempting to take Rudolph to the ground at the end of the play and Rudolph grabbed hold of Garrett’s helmet. It looked like he was attempting to pull it. As Garrett started getting back up, he grabbed Rudolph and yanked off his helmet. He then swung the helmet and hit the quarterback in the head.

Players from both sidelines pouted on the field and got into a melee that resulted in Garrett and Browns defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi getting ejected. Maurkice Pouncey kicked Garrett in the head after the latter had been subsequently taken to the ground by Steelers players.

This is the clearest video of the incident.

After the game, Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield condemned the incident.

“I didn’t see why it started, but it’s inexcusable,” Mayfield said. “I don’t care, rivalry or not, we can’t do that. That’s kind of the history of what’s been going on here — hurting yourself — and that’s just endangering the other team. It’s inexcusable. [Garrett] knows that. I hope he does now. It’s tough.”

Browns head coach Freddie Kitchens followed with his own condemnation.

“It’s not who we want to be at the end of the game,” Kitchens said of the incident. “It’s not who Myles wants to be. That’s not who we’re going to be. You have to be able to maintain your composure in times like that and in no circumstance do we want anything to do with anything like that. I’m embarrassed. Myles is embarrassed. It’s not good. He understands what he did. He understands it’s totally unacceptable.”

Myles Garrett had a chance to speak about the end of the game. Below are his full comments.

Rudolph’s agent released a statement saying they would review the matter thoroughly.

The NFL league office will most certainly be reviewing this melee to decide on various punishments. Garrett, Ogunjobi and Pouncey all could face suspensions, with Garrett likely seeing the longest of them. FOX referee analyst Mike Pereira suggested Garrett’s suspension could be lengthier because of multiple fines for hitting on the quarterbacks. He suggested it could approach four games pending an appeal.