Damontae Kazee suspended for rest of season for hit that injured Michael Pittman Jr.

UPDATE: Hearing officer James Thrash upheld the Damontae Kazee's suspension for the remainder of the regular season but the Pittsburgh safety would be eligible to return for the playoffs, according to an NFL spokesperson.

ORIGINAL: The Steelers player who injured Michael Pittman Jr. will not be allowed to play again this season.

The NFL has suspended Steelers safety Damontae Kazee for the remainder of the year after the second-quarter hit he laid to Pittman's facemask as the Colts receiver laid out to try to catch a Gardner Minshew pass. The hit kept Pittman on the ground for several minutes, and though he walked off the field, he is now in the league's concussion protocol as he recovers from a brain injury.

Kazee was ejected from the game, but the punishment goes beyond a fine since he has five prior violations of rules designed to protect the health and safety of players, totaling $59,030 in fines.

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“With 8:49 remaining in the 2nd quarter, you were involved in a play that the League considers a serious violation of the playing rules," Jon Runyan, the NFL's vice president of football operations, said to Kazee in a letter. "The video of the play shows that you delivered a forcible blow to the head/neck area of Colts’ receiver Michael Pittman Jr., who was in a defenseless posture. You had an unobstructed path to your opponent and the illegal contact could have been avoided. Your actions were flagrant, and as a result, you were disqualified from the game.

“When players violate the rules intended to protect player safety on a repeated basis, and particularly when the violations carry with them a significant risk of injury to an opposing player, it is appropriate to impose substantially greater penalties.”

The punishment comes one day after Colts coach Shane Steichen took issue with the hit upon reviewing the game film.

“It probably shouldn’t happen,” Steichen said. “He led with the crown of his helmet, and you never want to see that.

“I mean, do those happen in football sometimes? But you don’t want to see that. That’s all I’ll say.”

Pittman had four catches for 78 yards at the time of the hit, on his way to another stellar game in what has been the best year of his career to date. Pittman has 99 catches for 1,062 yards and four touchdowns in a contract year that could have him in line to sign the next major wide receiver deal worth more than $20 million annually.

Steichen said that Pittman was in good spirits after the game, and the receiver said, "I'm all good," on Twitter that night.

But he will need to clear the five steps of the concussion protocol, which includes a non-contact practice, a contact practice and clearance from an independent neurologist. It's possible to clear in the week after a game-day brain injury, as Steelers pass rushers T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith did last week and as Colts tight end Mo Alie-Cox did earlier this season, but it tends to be the exception.

The Colts travel to play the Falcons on Sunday. At 8-6, they are in the thick of a crowded AFC wildcard race with three games to go. If Pittman can't play, the Colts will work with starting receivers Alec Pierce and Josh Downs and could stick with D.J. Montgomery, who filled in for Pittman and finished with two catches for 48 yards and a touchdown in the 30-13 victory over the Steelers.

Contact Nate Atkins at natkins@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter @NateAtkins_.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Damontae Kazee, who injured Michael Pittman Jr., suspended for season