SEATTLE -- Washington Commanders rookie cornerback Emmanuel Forbes was ejected from Sunday's 29-26 loss to the Seattle Seahawks after a helmet-to-helmet hit in the first quarter.
Forbes, Washington's first-round pick in April, was ejected following the hit on Seattle receiver Tyler Lockett. As quarterback Geno Smith scrambled to his left, Lockett was forced to run to the outside as Forbes dropped into that area.
As Lockett attempted to catch the ball, Forbes hit him in the helmet. Lockett did not hang on to the ball, but Forbes was penalized 15 yards. After the officials met, they ejected the cornerback.
"I was in shock it was an ejection. It wasn't like I was trying to kill him. It was just a play. I was trying to make a play on the ball," said Forbes, who said he watched multiple replays of the hit while in the locker room. "That's the only way I could have hit him to try to dislodge the ball and don't think it was a terrible hit."
Referee Walt Anderson told a pool reporter that they ejected Forbes after receiving assistance from New York on the play, which, by rule, the officials are allowed to do. Anderson called it a bang-bang play.
"We want players to stay away from helmet-to-helmet contact," he said. "We're also looking at is the defender making the attempt to play the ball or is he making no attempt to separate the ball from the player -- in terms of going straight for the head? And in this case, it was the latter where he just went straight to the head, and that's why it rose to the level of disqualification."
Forbes faces a fine and possible suspension by the NFL. Washington coach Ron Rivera was not pleased with the ejection.
"It most certainly wasn't an intentional [hit]," Rivera said. "He was lowering his target and the receiver went down to protect himself at the same time. That created the helmet-to-helmet. I get the helmet-to-helmet call, but I struggle with the ejection."
Forbes has had a rocky rookie season, getting benched for one game and being limited in two others as he struggled in coverage. But he played 47 snaps in the Week 9 win at New England and opened as Washington's third corner against the Seahawks.