INDIANAPOLIS — The hit in Houston that knocked rookie Colts receiver Alec Pierce out of this week’s game in Jacksonville has drawn the NFL’s attention.

Rookie Texans safety Jalen Pitre has been fined $9,045 for the hit on Pierce, a hit that was flagged for unnecessary roughness.

Pitre was fined for a helmet-to-helmet hit so hard that it bent Pierce’s face mask.

“I had to get my face mask changed,” Pierce said in the locker room after Sunday’s game.

Pierce played the rest of the game, taking 47 snaps overall, but the Colts rookie developed concussion symptoms later in the week and was placed in the concussion protocol.

Indianapolis allowed Pierce to practice in a red, non-contact jersey — the fourth of five steps in the NFL’s concussion protocol — on Thursday, but the team’s evaluation of Pierce on Friday led the Colts to hold out the rookie receiver.

“Alec didn’t get to a point where he could clear the protocol this morning,” Colts head coach Frank Reich said. “So he will be out, but feel like he’s making good progress.”