PITTSBURGH -- The NFL fined Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Terence Garvin $25,000 Wednesday for the block that left Cincinnati Bengals punter Kevin Huber with a broken jaw and a cracked vertebrae, according to a source.

Garvin leveled Huber on Antonio Brown's 67-yard punt return for a touchdown Sunday night, and his helmet hit Huber's chin. Both Garvin and the Steelers expected a fine for the hit that ended Huber's season.

Bengals punter Kevin Huber suffered a broken jaw and a cracked vertebrae as a result of a blindside hit Sunday night by the Steelers' Terence Garvin. AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar

Garvin is expected to appeal the fine. He said there was no intent to hurt Huber, whom the Bengals placed on injured reserve Tuesday.

"I fell down on the play and I got up and saw A.B. coming towards me so I was like, 'Oh, I've got to try and help him break on this play,' " Garvin said. "I wasn't out there trying to be vicious. When you're in the game you're really just trying to make a play and help your team out."

Dean Blandino, the NFL's head of officials, said Tuesday night that Garvin's hit was illegal and that he should have been handed a personal foul penalty.

Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said Garvin carried out his assignment on the play. But Tomlin also acknowledged that "the nature in which the block unfolded is not what we're looking for. It's not what we coach. It's not what he wants, but that play hit pretty quickly."

Huber expressed no ill feelings toward the Garvin on Wednesday.

"There really is not much I can do about it now," Huber said. "Me just getting mad and stressing about it is only going to make it harder to get through.

"It is what it is. It's part of the game, I know -- big hits. Unfortunately I got one of the big hits, and I've got to deal with it. I'll be fine. I'll be back next year."

Information from ESPN.com Bengals reporter Coley Harvey was used in this report.