SEE IT: 49ers' Trent Williams avoids ejection for punching Giants' A'Shawn Robinson
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy took a knee on what should have been the final play of the first half Thursday night, but offsetting penalties extended the half with the visiting Giants down 17-6.
The penalties were offsetting personal foul calls on 49ers left tackle Trent Williams and Giants defensive lineman A'Shawn Robinson after the two got into a scuffle, which led to one more kneel-down on the untimed down.
However, Shawn Hochuli's crew missed a clear right hook thrown by the left tackle.
Williams could have been ejected for the jab, which could have changed the complexion of the game as the All-Pro tackle is one of the best at his position.
After the game, which the 49ers won 30-12, pool reporter Matt Barrows of The Athletic was able to speak to NFL senior vice president of officiating Walt Anderson who explained why Williams was not ejected even after members of the officiating department reviewed the video to determine if the punch should result in an ejection.
“We ended up looking at the video we had available to us, and we just didn’t see anything that rose to the level of flagrant, which is the standard that we have to apply to disqualify the player,” Anderson said.
When asked if striking a player in the facemask didn’t rise to the level of flagrant, Anderson said that these are “judgment calls” when it comes to an open hand, stiff arm or closed fist. And there can be contact with the hand to an opponent’s helmet that some would deem a punch and others would not.
In the case of Williams, who swung with a closed fist, Anderson said after reviewing the video from the camera angles available they didn’t determine if it was a closed fist punch and it did not meet their standard of flagrant conduct.
“We couldn’t confirm that 100 percent from the standpoint of was it truly a closed fist with a strike, we just couldn’t determine that,” he said.
