Incognito: 'Just a bonehead play, and me being selfish'

ST. LOUIS -- St. Louis Rams guard Richie Incognito said he regretted his two unnecessary roughness penalties against the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday, referring to the penalties as "just a bonehead play, and me being selfish.''

"We want to be physical, we want to be disciplined and we want to have attention to detail, and I really got away from all three of those,'' Incognito said. "It was just a bonehead play, and me being selfish.''

Rams coach Steve Spagnuolo said he trusted Richie Incognito even though the right guard racked up 35 yards in penalties (two unnecessary roughness penalties and a false start) during a 28-0 season-opening loss to the Seahawks.

Spagnuolo dismissed Incognito's history for personal foul penalties.

"I know Richie Incognito is the 2009 Rams' right offensive guard,'' Spagnuolo said. "Yesterday, he had some penalties. Richie and I have talked about it. I trust Richie. I like his passion. When the passion leads to penalties, that's not a good thing. I said this yesterday, that I'd rather have that problem than rather trying to motivate guys to love the game of football.''

Incognito said he appreciated Spagnuolo's support.

"It's great knowing that he supports me and he is behind me 100 percent,'' Incognito said. "At this stage of the ballgame, there is zero tolerance for things like that. It's something I have to come overcome. It's squarely set on my shoulders. It's something I have to overcome to help this team get better.''

After the second personal foul, Incognito was replaced by Adam Goldberg. He missed five plays -- the rest of that offensive series and the next offensive series -- before returning to action.

Asked if he felt like Spagnuolo had him on a short leash, Incognito said, "It has been a short leash from the get-go, since coach got here.''

Incognito said emotions were high for players on both teams during the game.

"The whole game it was 'chippy' back and forth,'' Incognito said. "That's expected. It was a big-time game with both teams coming out trying to get a division win. It definitely got scrappy.''

Incognito said his first unnecessary roughness penalty for shoving a Seahawks player after the whistle was inexcusable.

"The first personal foul I let my emotions get away from me, did something real regrettable,'' Incognito said.

Incognito said he thought the call for the second unnecessary roughness penalty was questionable.

Incognito was running down the field on a quick screen.

"I got my guy sealed a little bit, and I'm running with him,'' Incognito said. "You can see where I start to choke down, and as soon as my feet slowed, he kept riding me and there was a guy about three yards in front of me. I could see why the flag was thrown because I had my hands up, and I delivered into the guy. It was really just a self-defense thing. I just kind of plowed him over. A thing like that, I guess I should have thrown my hands up or tried to avoid the guy.''