The New Orleans Saints and Cincinnati Bengals were punished after the league issued a memo threatening to enforce harsh penalties for the faking of injuries.
The NFL has issued a $550,000 fine on the Saints following defensive end Cam Jordan's alleged fake injury during Monday night's loss to the Tampa Buccaneers, according to Pro Football Talk. The Bengals' Jessie Bates III was also fined for his alleged fake injury during Sunday's win over Kansas City, according to NFL Network.
Jordan was reportedly fined $50,000. His position coach, Ryan Nielsen, was also fined $50,000. Saints coach Dennis Allen was fined $100,000, and the Saints franchise was docked $350,000. All parties plan to appeal these fines, per ESPN.
Meanwhile, here is a breakdown of Cincinnati's fines: Bates ($50,000), head coach Zac Taylor ($150,000) and the Bengals ($350,000). (The fines for Taylor and the Bengals are based on the minimum fines for head coaches and franchises laid out in the NFL memo as punishment for faking injuries. It's unclear if Bates' position coach has been fined). Bates plans to appeal his fine, per NFL Network.
The action that led to the Saints' massive fine took place with 7:34 left in Monday night's game. Jordan took a knee after looking at the team bench prior to the Buccaneers' fourth-down play. The NFL obviously concluded that Jordan received instruction to go down.
Jordan responded to the fine via Twitter.
Most expensive fine to date from the @NFL came in yesterday… added stressor for no reason
— cameron jordan (@camjordan94) December 10, 2022
Are fines made by nfl open to public? I just feel like this should be public knowledge. ‘Cause some of the fines are silly but this 1… ridiculous. Anyways & for what a “deliberate action to delay game” before a tm punts? NFL just wanted a new patek aquanaut or summ… not off me
— cameron jordan (@camjordan94) December 10, 2022
Agent told me bout it and initially I laughed and was like, that’s ridiculous- clearly aggravated something. then he told me how much the fine was ???????? and I been irked since.
— cameron jordan (@camjordan94) December 10, 2022
The NFL is trying to crack down on teams faking injuries in attempts to disrupt the tempo of a game. The league's memo came out shortly after Bates was seen falling without contact during a critical moment in Cincinnati's Week 13 win over Kansas City. (Bates was listed on this week's injury report with a groin injury.)
Jordan and Bates are the first NFL players in a decade to be fined for allegedly faking an injury. Then-Steelers receiver Emmanuel Sanders was fined $15,000 after the NFL
