For the first time since his ejection in Sunday’s win over the Green Bay Packers, Detroit Lions defensive back Brian Branch spoke to reporters about the hit that got him kicked out, showing remorse over how things went down.

“I most definitely agree with the call,” Branch said Wednesday. “I feel like my target was obviously high, but that was never my intention to aim for the head. But moving forward, I do have to move my target down.”

In the second quarter of the game, Packers quarterback Jordan Love targeted Bo Melton down the left sideline. The pass was incomplete, but the officials flagged Branch for unnecessary roughness after obvious helmet-to-helmet contact was made and, eventually, ejected him from the game. Senior vice president of officiation Perry Fewell provided an explanation to a pool reporter after the game.

“We reviewed all the angles, and we clearly felt that he had time and space to make a different choice, as the act was a flagrant foul,” Fewell said. “And he clearly had the opportunity to avoid the head and neck area.”

Afterward, a photo of Branch flipping off the Green Bay sideline went viral. While his teammates seemed to love it, and the photo is almost certainly going to end up on t-shirts and hoodies in the near future, Branch apologized for the incident.

“I feel like that was just a heat of the moment for me,” Branch said. “And I apologize to everyone that seen that. That won’t happen again.”

(Note: This is excerpted from Colton Pouncy’s Lions notebook of Nov. 7, 2024.)

Required reading

(Photo: Patrick McDermott / Getty Images)