COLTS

McNary apologizes to Titans player for penalized hit

Scott Horner
scott.horner@indystar.com
Tennessee Titans tight end Delanie Walker (82) catches a 7-yard touchdown pass ahead of Indianapolis Colts defenders Clayton Geathers (26) and Josh McNary (57) in the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Oct. 23, 2016, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Zaleski)

Indianapolis Colts linebacker Josh McNary apologized Monday on Instagram for a hit on Tennessee Titans tight end Delanie Walker in Sunday's game the Colts won 34-26.

McNary walloped Walker on a pass play, though Walker wasn't the intended receiver. On that play, the Colts' Patrick Robinson intercepted Marcus Mariota's pass. However, McNary's hit was flagged for unnecessary roughness, and the Titans got a first down.

"As I closed in on #82, he maintained eyes on the QB and suddenly let up as he saw that he wasn't the target," McNary wrote in an Instagram post. "Almost simultaneously, I struck him on his pads to reroute him not knowing the ball had just been released. Unfortunately he was hurt on the play and our team suffered the untimely penalty. It is never my intention to hurt a fellow player, as I pray for an injury free contest before every game."

Here is McNary's full Instagram post:

Colts coach Chuck Pagano said McNary's play was a mistake but certainly not malicious.

"Josh’s (McNary) penalty, just to set the record straight, it looked how it looked. It was unfortunate, a second-and-20 play I believe and we got an interception that Patrick Robinson played really well, got a key interception at a critical time in the game and they had an underneath route to Delanie (Walker) and then a deep route to (Kendall) Wright behind him and he was underneath zone coverage. The quarterback was standing there and he is looking right down the same line as Delanie underneath and the guy behind him and he was reacting, he was playing football. We don’t have cheap shot guys on this football team. That’s not Josh. That’s not any of our guys. There was no malice there. It was a bang-bang play, the guy was reacting to what he thought he saw and it was unfortunate. That’s not him, that’s not our football team. We have to get some of that stuff cleaned up. If you just cut that stuff in half it’s going to be a heck of a lot easier ball game to try to win."