BC Lions pass rusher Odell Willis and CFL Commissioner Randy Ambrosie met Friday to clear the air after Willis’ hit on Saskatchewan Roughriders QB Zach Collaros Saturday, the maximum fine levied on him for the play, and Willis’ subsequent tweets.

The two said they had a great talk and both agreed that player safety is the top priority coming out of this incident.

“Odell and I had a great chat this morning and I’m finding he’s a young man of great character,” Ambrosie told TSN’s Farhan Lalji. “I said, ‘look, I think we’ve got to start thinking about the chest and down, not the chest plate and up.’ Because as he pointed out, sometimes your intentions are to hit with the shoulder and in the chest area but it’s quite easy to slide up and get the head caught.”

Willis said he maintains he didn’t intend to hit Collaros in the head, but can see how the league viewed it as a hit worth being penalized.

“I know I led with my shoulder on purpose and I stick to that but with further film evidence, my head did make contact with his head from the impact of the hit, so it was head-to-head,” Willis said. “(Ambrosie) made it clear about the hit, what the league wanted, and I was happy with it.”

Moving forward, Ambrosie said the league will continue to hammer home the message of avoiding hits to the head.

“We’re going to stick to the same narrative we’ve been talking about all year long and even before the season started, we’ve got to get the players to stay away from those head hits because we know they’re dangerous and we want to take that out of our game.”

Willis said it could take an adjustment period for players to alter the way they tackle, but being mindful of the situation – and the new rules – is the first step.

“It’s difficult at times, especially when you’re leading with your shoulder and trying to make the correct tackle because at the last minute, a sudden change (can happen). It’s just natural, you’re prepared to get hit so you naturally ball up and drop your head. You just have to work around it. It’s nothing you can practice, you just have to be aware of it know the situation.”

Willis added he hopes Collaros, who eventually left Saturday’s game with a head injury, can return and help the Roughriders make their playoff push.

“I just hope Zach’s okay, hope Rider Nation can calm down a little bit. I do care about player safety first.”