Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase will likely be fined due to his actions that led to an unsportsmanlike conduct personal foul during the loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
After the game, Chase made it clear multiple times that he has no intention of talking about the how and why of his major confrontation with official Alex Kemp.
Kemp, who flagged Chase for the interaction, explained his reasoning after the game.
On Monday, the NFL Referees Association publicly backed Kemp, saying that he handled the event correctly given the situation and what Chase said, per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero:
Statement from NFL Referees Association executive director Scott Green on Ja’Marr Chase’s unsportsmanlike conduct penalty Sunday: “The situation was well handled by Alex Kemp, and it was the appropriate response.”
Kemp said Chase used abusive language.pic.twitter.com/Imteg1kb1v
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) September 16, 2024
Chase will likely receive a huge fine letter from the NFL later this week, too.
Though Chase felt like the now-banned hip-drop tackle was used to bring him down on the play in question, his pushing things too far turned a third-and-7 on Kansas City’s 30-yard line into a much tougher conversion after the 15-yard penalty. The Bengals would settle for a field goal to go up 25-23 instead of pushing for a touchdown before losing, 26-25.
