Report: Saints DT Nathan Shepherd's Fine for Twisting Justin Herbert's Leg Rescinded

New Orleans Saints defensive tackle Nathan Shepherd will no longer owe $11,817 for his controversial tackle of Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert in Week 8.

The NFL rescinded the fine after Shepherd appealed the penalty, Katherine Terrell reported for ESPN.

Shepherd was fined for unnecessary roughness after Chargers players accused him of deliberately attempting to injure Herbert by grabbing his leg after a tackle on Oct. 27.

Both he and Chargers center Bradley Bozeman, who pushed Shepherd off Herbert, were penalized for unnecessary roughness on the play.

After the game Bozeman called the tackle "one of the dirtier plays I've ever seen."

"The ball was gone two or three seconds and he's still gator rolling, he's on the ground, still gator rolling," Bozeman said.

Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh gave Bozeman a game ball after the win. He told reporters the play had been particularly concerning because of the high ankle sprain Herbert suffered in Week 2.

"Everybody knows Justin's got a bad ankle," Harbaugh said. "I wasn't out there, I just saw what I saw, and how long it was going on. That was going on too long. It should be an ejection."

Former Saints head coach Dennis Allen later defended Shepherd by saying it was "not accurate" to accuse him of deliberately trying to injure Herbert.

"Here's a guy who's trying to wrap the quarterback up, he's on the ground, he has not idea whether the quarterback has the ball or not," Allen said on Oct. 28. "He's just trying to bring the quarterback down to the ground, so there was nothing malicious about this play."

Allen was fired the following week after the Saints lost a seventh straight game in Week 9.

Under interim head coach Darren Rizzi, the Saints snapped the losing streak with consecutive wins heading into a Week 12 bye. Rizzi will look to lead the team to a third straight victory during Sunday's Week 13 home game against the Los Angeles Rams.