FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- New England Patriots nose tackle Vince Wilfork was fined $12,500 Thursday by the NFL for his low, late hit on Bills quarterback J.P. Losman.
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Losman sprained his left knee during the play Sunday and is expected to miss at least two weeks. Wilfork was penalized on the play in the Patriots' 38-7 win.
"A lot of people say that was a cheap shot," Wilfork said Thursday before he was alerted about the fine. "I'm far from a dirty player. If you know me as a person, you'd understand that. If you don't know me, don't judge me. If you don't know me, get to know me."
Losman was hurt on Buffalo's first play from scrimmage when Wilfork dived at his knee just as Losman completed a 4-yard pass to running back Marshawn Lynch. Losman tried to play through the injury, but left the game after losing a fumble two plays later.
Rookie quarterback Trent Edwards replaced Losman and immediately engineered a 12-play, 80-yard touchdown drive, though he completed 10 of 20 passes for 97 yards in the game.
Wilfork said he was blocked into Losman.
"I've got one guy tripping me up and I've got one guy hitting my left leg," Wilfork said. "Of course, that's the only reason I was falling. I'm mad because he's hurt. That's what I regret - him being a quarterback and getting hurt. It wasn't intentional."
Wilfork said he has tried to reach out to Losman to apologize.
"I've got some friends on that team," Wilfork said. "I'll try to talk to him as a person and let him know how I feel about the whole situation."
This was Wilfork's second run-in with the Bills. During a game in 2004, Bills tackle Jonas Jennings suffered a concussion on what he called a "premeditated" helmet-to-helmet hit by Wilfork. Also in that game, Bills guard Chris Villarrial accused Wilfork of kicking him in the ribs on a field goal attempt.
PatJonz 
