At least that was the explanation Seahawks coach Pete Carroll got when he contacted the league about the play, which occurred in the final 2 minutes of Seattle's victory over Philadelphia last Thursday and left Okung with a torn right pectoral muscle.

>"They can't deal with a violation in terms of kind of the impact it has on the other player," Carroll said. "That's not a factor for them."

Cole indicated to reporters in Philadelphia he was fined $7,500 for his after-the-whistle hip toss of Okung. In the interview, he said Okung was holding him on the play in question.

Carroll said that his conversation with the league indicated that in the future there might be discussion of considering the impact of a certain play in determining punishment, but that the league's policy -- as it stands currently -- doesn't allow for that to be taken into account.

"Right now they're doing what they can do," Carroll said.