FOXBOROUGH - The NFL yesterday fined Vince Wilfork $15,000 for unsportsmanlike conduct in the Patriots' regular-season finale last Saturday against the Giants. The fine, the largest of the three Wilfork has been assessed this season, was levied because the nose tackle was deemed to have poked his finger inside the facemask of Giants running back Brandon Jacobs.
The incident occurred late in the second quarter, with the Giants running a no-huddle offense. Linebacker Junior Seau was penalized for delay of game after a reception, officials saying he held a player on the ground.
Members of both teams then began pushing, and Wilfork directed his right index finger inside Jacobs's helmet.
Wilfork was not penalized on the play. The fine was determined after league officials reviewed the play at NFL headquarters.
"It was nothing more than them doing trash-talking and in the heat of the moment I pointed my finger in his face," Wilfork wrote on his website, vincewilfork75.com. "I did not make contact with his eye or anything like that."
Wilfork also wrote that "on the field emotions" were high and "there were several bumps among players and trash-talking the whole game. It was one of the biggest games of the season and we all had a lot of emotion."
Wilfork was fined $12,500 for a low hit that knocked Bills quarterback J.P. Losman out of the game Sept. 23, and $5,000 for a late hit on Cowboys tight end Jason Witten Oct. 14.
Belichick honored
Bill Belichick opened his press conference yesterday by acknowledging his selection Thursday as the Associated Press NFL Coach of the Year, marking the second time (2003) he has earned the award."It's certainly an honor and something I appreciate," he said. "I think there are a lot of great coaches in this league. I think there are some guys that have done really fantastic jobs at their teams, so it's really an honor to be selected."
Belichick garnered 29 of 50 first-place votes, nearly doubling the total of Green Bay's Mike McCarthy, who finished second.
"At the same time, I think it's much more of a team award than an individual award," Belichick said.
The players, however, deflected the praise back toward Belichick.
"I'm happy for him. I think he deserves it," said Mike Vrabel. "He proves himself week in and week out to this football team, and certainly whether he would have won it or not, I think he has the respect of everyone in this locker room. Certainly, we don't always agree with what he does, or like it, but it's always effective."
Said Rodney Harrison, "The guy puts a lot of time and effort in, he sacrifices a lot [and] he works extremely hard. It's definitely well deserved. To be able to bring a group of guys together and keep them focused for 16 weeks just shows what type of leader he is. He's a tremendous leader, just the best coach I've ever been involved with."
He isn't joshing
Although he declined to talk Thursday about the Falcons' and Ravens' requests to interview offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, who announced later that day he did not want to be considered for their head coaching vacancies, Belichick yesterday commented on McDaniels's decision. "I think Josh is an outstanding coach, one of the best that I've worked with," Belichick said. "I know he's young, but he's outstanding, does a great job, and has done [a great job] in a number of different areas in this organization, and for me, personally. I think he has a tremendous future as a coach. But, as he said, all of that's being put aside right now and we all are focused on our task at hand." . . . Among the players missing from the media-access portion of yesterday's full-pads practice at Dana-Farber Field House: Asante Samuel, Ellis Hobbs, Kyle Eckel, and Nick Kaczur, all of whom were also not present for that portion of Thursday's practice. Kyle Brady, who was spotted during the media portion of Thursday's practice, was absent yesterday. Ty Warren, meanwhile, was spotted yesterday after missing practice Thursday.Christopher Gasper of the Globe staff contributed to this report.
