Tampa Bay Buccaneers safety Dashon Golden said he has been fined for his hit on New York Jets tight end Jeff Cumberland in Sunday's season opener.

Goldson maintains the hit was clean, but Cumberland was considered "defenseless" as a receiver and also needed stitches to his chin after the hit.

"The refs have a tough job, they got to call it like they see it," Goldson said via ESPN.com. “But I got to play it, I got to play football ... I play the game to win, I can't play timid. If I play timid, then it's a touchdown, I'm the last man of defense mostly.

“The game is tough as it is, and then you got to go ahead and think about what's a clean hit and what's a dirty hit. It is what it is, and we'll get to that when it's time for it."

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Terry McCormick covers the Titans for TitanInsider.com



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This story originally appeared on Nationalfootballpost.com