“We are going through the appeal process right now with my agent, and we will see what happens,” Iloka said.
The play came midway through the first quarter and resulted in Finley suffering a concussion and missing the rest of the game.
Iloka, who was not penalized on the play, argued that Finley dove into him, and replays show that it was Iloka’s upper arm, not head or shoulder, that made contact with Finley’s head.
“They said he was in a defenseless position,” Iloka said. “It’s hard for a defensive back. You look at all the fine records, it’s usually safeties, DBs, receivers diving for the ball, which he did. He’s diving. He’s head first, so his head would have made contact with some part of my body.
“You can’t do anything but let them catch the ball,” Iloka added. “Unless there’s a new rule that you have to let players catch the ball, you just have to eat that fine. I’d rather take whatever the fine is then let a guy make a big catch on third-and-whatever.”
Iloka confirmed the amount of the fine was $15,000.
“I played for free last week,” he said.
Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict likely will be fined as well for his hit on Green Bay wide receiver James Jones, which did draw a 15-yard penalty for unnecessary roughness.
Hot hand: Cleveland Browns head coach Rob Chudzinski confirmed the obvious when he named Brian Hoyer as his starting quarterback for Sunday's game against the Bengals.
Hoyer, a Cleveland native and graduate of St. Ignatius High School, made his second career NFL start last week at Minnesota when Brandon Weeden was unable to play with a thumb injury.
Hoyer led the Browns to a 31-27 victory at Minnesota by completing 30 of 54 passes for 321 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions.
Not Newman: With an interception and a game-winning fumble return for a touchdown, Bengals cornerback Terence Newman was a finalist for AFC Defensive Player of the Week. But the award went to Kansas City linebacker Justin Houston for the second time in three weeks.
Houston recorded a career-high 4.5 sacks with seven tackles, two fumble recoveries and a forced fumble in the Chiefs’ 26-16 win at Philadelphia on Thursday. He also earned the award in Week 1.
Conner signed: Former Bengals fullback John Conner was signed by the New York Giants on Wednesday after starter Henry Hynoski suffered a fractured shoulder in Sunday's 38-0 loss to Carolina.
Conner played well for the Bengals in the preseason, but he was one of the final cuts when the team elected to go with the younger, more versatile Orson Charles, who was converted to fullback from tight end.
A Lakota West High School graduate, Conner is familiar with New York after playing three seasons with the Jets, who drafted him in the fifth round in 2010.
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