NFL fined the Saints $350,000, HC Dennis Allen $100,000, co-defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen $50,000 and DE Cameron Jordan $50,000 for what the league felt was Jordan faking an injury and taking a knee in the 4th qtr Monday night, per sources. All parties plan to appeal fines.
Buy Saints Tickets— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 10, 2022
Not even the bye week can go right for the New Orleans Saints. The NFL has fined defensive end Cameron Jordan, head coach Dennis Allen, co-defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen and the Saints organization for a combined $550,000 per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. The fine is connected to a 3rd-and-17 play after aTampa Bay Buccaneers running back brought in a 7-yard reception from quarterback Tom Brady with over 7 minutes left in the fourth quarter.
Jordan nearly closed in on a sack, and fell awkwardly while trying to make the play and was walking carefully down the field. He went down to a knee as the Tampa Bay punt team had begun to take the field but Brady waved them off, looking to keep the offense on to potentially go for it on fourth-and-long. As noted by ESPN’s Katherine Terrell, Jordan didn’t return to the game until four plays into the next Buccaneers possession. This comes from the Monday night matchup that followed the Sunday afternoon meeting between the Kansas City Chiefs and Cincinnati Bengals in which a Bengals defender clearly faked an injury to avoid taking a 12 men on the field penalty.
Smh 😂 pic.twitter.com/M2UkjrppFc
— Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz (@LeBatardShow) December 4, 2022
Per ProFootballTalk, the Saints will not be the only the only team to see this discipline warning “more to come.” It will be interesting to see if safety Jessie Bates III and the Bengals will receive similar fines and punishments.
As for the Saints, it looks like Jordan, Allen, Nielsen and perhaps the organization as a whole will be appealing the fines. In a season that has already been so disappointing for this team, adding this to the list feels a little bit like overkill by the league. It seems possible that the fines could end up being reduced thanks to the appeals, but it’s hard to imagine the NFL would stand down after issuing such a large sanction.
