New York ? NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue sent a letter to all coaches putting them on notice to end the illegal hits that resulted in $125,000 in fines to two players last week.

As part of the league’s crackdown on on-field violence, Tagliabue sent the memo Friday after a long discussion of hits on receivers and quarterbacks at league meetings in New York on Wednesday and Thursday. The letter informs coaches of the discussion and asks them to reinforce the league’s position on helmet-to-helmet hits and other plays that can result in injuries.

Last week, the NFL fined Dallas’ Darren Woodson $75,000 for a hit on Seattle’s Darrell Jackson, and fined Philadelphia’s Brian Dawkins $50,000 for a hit on the New York Giants’ Ike Hilliard.

Jackson was hospitalized after having a post-game seizure in the locker room and Hilliard separated his shoulder and is out for the season.

CBS-TV reported Sunday that Tagliabue told owners that coaches could face fines for condoning those hits and that teams could face sanctions if they pay the fines for disciplined players.

However, NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said the commissioner did not mention any such fines in his letter to coaches.

“We will continue to do everything to protect players who are defenseless,” Tagliabue said at the meetings, citing receivers and quarterbacks as the most vulnerable.

There have been 18 players fined and/or suspended this year, compared with 16 at this time last year. Most of those disciplined have been defensive backs for hits on receivers.

The issue is expected to come up again at the league’s meetings in March in Phoenix. There have been some suggestions, mainly from Matt Millen, president of the Detroit Lions, that the NFL is asking some players to unlearn what they’ve been taught since they first began playing the game.

One of the players suspended this season, safety Kenoy Kennedy of Denver, has said the while the NFL is cracking down, hard hits are glamorized on television.