This year, the NFL has begun announcing the fines imposed on players for on-field rules infractions. We’ll be posting separate items on fines of significance.
We’ll also be listing all of the fines here, by team, player, announced violation, and amount.
All fines are subject to appeal. It’s not known whether the NFL will update the weekly disclosure of imposed fines with information as to the outcome of the appeals.
Here are the Week 3 fines, covering 20 teams, 34 players, and 1.35 percent of all plays:
Falcons, Kaden Ellis, unnecessary roughness, $16,391.
Falcons, Keith Smith, unnecessary roughness, $87,418.
Bears, Jaquan Brisker, unnecessary roughness, $9,287.
Bears, Tyrique Stevenson, unnecessary roughness, $6,515.
Bengals, Cam Taylor-Britt, unnecessary roughness, $7,516.
Cowboys, Chuma Edoga, unnecessary roughness, $6,847.
Cowboys, Jonathan Hankins, unnecessary roughness, $7,319.
Broncos, Kareem Jackson, unnecessary roughness, $11,473.
Broncos, Drew Sanders, unnecessary roughness, $5,793.
Broncos, Patrick Surtain, unnecessary roughness, $11,473.
Lions, Alex Anzalone, unnecessary roughness, $13,922.
Lions, Brian Branch, unnecessary roughness, $8,103.
Lions, Brian Branch (second fine), unnecessary roughness, $8,103.
Packers, Rasul Douglas, unnecessary roughness, $11,473.
Packers, Ben Sims, unnecessary roughness, $4,167.
Texans, Jonathan Greenard, unnecessary roughness, $7,604.
Colts, Kwity Paye, unnecessary roughness, $10,927.
Chargers, Raheem Layne, unnecessary roughness, $4,870.
Chargers, Maxx Crosby, unnecessary roughness, $10.927.
Dolphins, Raheem Mostert, unnecessary roughness, $10,927.
Vikings, Harrison Smith, unnecessary roughness, $21,855.
Patriots, Jabrill Peppers, unnecessary roughness, $43,709.
Patriots, JuJu Smith-Schuster, unnecessary roughness, $16,391.
Saints, Tony Jones, unnecessary roughness, $5,222.
Giants, A’Shawn Robinson, unnecessary roughness, $11,473.
Giants, Jihad Ward, unnecessary roughness, $8,139.
Giants, Leonard Williams, a hit on a quarterback, $16,391.
Steelers, Kwon Alexander, unnecessary roughness, $43,709.
Steelers, Miles Killebrew, unnecessary roughness, $13,792.
49ers, Trent Williams, unnecessary roughness, $11,473.
Seahawks, Julian Love, unnecessary roughness, $21,833.
Seahawks, DK Metcalf, unnecessary roughness, $16,391.
Seahawks, Teez Tabor, unnecessary roughness, $6,000.
Titans, Arden Key, a hit on a quarterback, $43,710.
There continues to be a disconnect between the NFL’s disciplinary process and NFL officiating.
Falcons fullback Keith Smith has been fined $87,418, the biggest fine the NFL has given any player this season, for what the lords of discipline termed unnecessary roughness.
But Smith was not penalized on the play. It was the first play of the Falcons’ game against the Lions and went unremarked-upon at the time.
Several of the biggest fines that have been given to players this season have been handed down for offenses that the officials didn’t see as penalties. The league would inspire a lot more confidence if the officials and the disciplinary process were on the same page.
Kyle Van Noy must have made a good impression in Baltimore this week at practice.
Four days after joining the Ravens’ practice squad, Van Noy has received a spot on the team’s 53-man roster, via Mike Garafolo of NFL Media.
He was a second-round pick of the Lions in 2014. Close to the 2016 trade deadline, the Lions sent Van Noy and a seventh-round pick to the Patriots for a sixth-round pick.
Van Noy stayed in New England through 2019. He played for the Dolphins in 2020, the Patriots again in 2021, and the Chargers in 2022.
The Ravens visit the Browns on Sunday, with both teams having 2-1 records.
Lions wide receiver Jameson Williams and Titans tackle Nicholas Petit-Frere will be eligible to return from their suspensions earlier than expected.
Both players were suspended six games for gambling on sports other than NFL football while at the workplace, but the NFL and NFL Players Association agreed to revised penalties under the league’s gambling policy that will result in both players being eligible to return to active duty next week. Players found to be in violation of the rule barring gambling while working will now be suspended two games and both players will have the remainder of their suspensions rescinded as a result.
PFT has confirmed that both of the players will be able to rejoin their teams for all activities, including practices and games, on Monday.
Wide receiver Stanley Berryhill was cut after receiving a six-game suspension at the same time as Williams and the free agent will also be eligible to return to NFL action if a team is interested in his services.
As the Packers were trying to mount a comeback against the Lions on Thursday night, they got a gift.
A play snapped with no time on the clock resulted in a 44-yard throw from quarterback Jordan Love to receiver Jayden Reed.
The quarter had clearly ended. Zero, colon, zero zero.
According to NFL spokesman Michael Signora, the situation is no different than the expiration of the play clock. The officials need to notice that the clock has struck zero, and then to blow the whistle.
“This is the same process as exists with the play clock,” Signora said. “The official sees the game clock and then looks to the snap. There is always a brief delay, and this is not reviewable.”
That conflicts with the explanation provided on Thursday night by Amazon Prime rules analyst Terry McAulay. He said it’s not treated like the play clock, and that one the game clock hits zero, the play should be shut down.
Still, unless there’s a buzzer or some other noise made when the clock hits zero, there will always be a delay. Someone has to see that the clock is at zero and then react. It creates a sliver of time for a play to happen before the eye sends the relevant message to the brain, and before the brain sends the relevant message to the mouth.
Lions quarterback Jared Goff and Packers cornerback Rasul Douglas were seen talking on the field following Thursday night’s game, and Douglas revealed afterward that Goff let him know about a play they had planned specifically for Douglas.
That play was the first touchdown of the game, on which Amon-Ra St. Brown blew past Douglas as Douglas slipped and fell in a desperate attempt to change directions at the last second. Douglas revealed that Goff told him the Lions knew based on how Douglas had played against them before that they were going to catch him getting overly aggressive.
“Just watching them from three years, every time they’re in the red zone, they speed break. They’ve got one route that they ran. For the last three years, they’ve been running it. I jumped it last year,” Douglas told Ryan Wood of USA Today. “Jared Goff threw it in the dirt. And he had it dialed up. I saw him after the game after he took a knee. He walked up right up to me, and he was like, ‘Bro, you’re a hell of a player, but we knew we were going to get you on that one. We went over it every day in practice, and that’s the one you jumped. We only had one play off of it.’ So they put it in for me. I told him, ‘I knew it was coming.’ He was like, ‘That’s what we wanted you to do, is jump it, like you always do.’ So that’s just on me. I’ve just got to have better eyes.”
It’s surprising that Goff would give Douglas that kind of insight, especially when the Lions and Packers will face each other again this year. Suffice to say Douglas will be a bit more cautious next time he faces the Lions — and perhaps that’s what Goff was hoping for.
The NFL Players Association announced on Friday that Lions center Frank Ragnow has been named their Community MVP for Week Four of the 2023 season.
Ragnow is being recognized for hosting his foundation’s second annual Fishin’ for Memories event. The event saw Ragnow and his wife host eight families who had recently lost loved ones at a Michigan hospice for a day of fishing and games. Ragnow taught the children in attendance how to fish and provided them each with fishing gear and a signed football at the end of the day.
“I started the foundation in honor of my dad to help kids dealing with grief understand how healing the outdoors can be,” Ragnow said in a statement. “It’s a privilege to provide access to the outdoors to the children we serve.”
The NFLPA will make a $10,000 donation to Ragnow’s foundation or the charity of his choice. He will also be eligible for the Alan Page Community Award at the end of the season.
The Lions and Packers were both 2-1 and tied for the lead in the NFC North heading into Thursday night, which means Detroit’s win at Lambeau Field was a major statement in the division race.
Packers quarterback Jordan Love acknowledged after the game that the 3-1 Lions are now the favorites in the division, ahead of the 2-2 Packers and certainly ahead of the 0-3 Bears and Vikings.
Asked if the Lions are the team to beat in the division, Love answered, “Yeah, for sure.”
Credit to them, they played really good,” Love said. “Yeah, I think it was us and them going into this game. Obviously we haven’t played the Vikings yet, but every time we play a North opponent it’s a huge game, going forward to the end of the year. it’s a game that we’ll be looking forward to next time we play them. We’ve got to be better and go win.”
The Lions and Packers will meet on Thanksgiving in Detroit, in a game that is likely to have a significant impact on the NFC North race, and a game that means even more to the Packers now that they’ve dropped a home game to the Lions.
It looked serious when Lions safety Brian Branch rode a cart to the locker room after suffering an ankle injury on Thursday night against the Packers. Amazingly, he returned to the game.
But then he left again, presumably after aggravating the original injury.
Via Mike Garafolo of NFL Media, Branch was “limping through” the locker room after the game. X-rays were negative.
That’s only part of the story, obviously. There could be damage that won’t show up on an X-ray.
Presumably, Branch will have an MRI. It will shed more light on whether and to what extent Branch will miss time.
The Lions, who not long ago had no chance to win at Lambeau Field, shredded the Cheeseheads (again) on Thursday night. The development has Detroit quarterback Jared Goff writing some sizable checks.
“Send us anywhere and we’ll be ready,” Goff said after the 34-17 victory, via ESPN.com. “And that’s the way we’re built.”
“We have that confidence. Like I said, send us anywhere. Line us up against anyone, and we feel like we can go in there and beat them, and that’s a good feeling to have. Is it always gonna happen? I don’t know, but we feel like we can. We have that confidence in ourselves, in our coaches and each other. We’re working together really well right now.”
It didn’t happen in Week 2, when the Lions lost their home opener against the Seahawks. And the Lions would be the underdogs against teams like the 49ers (whom they don’t play this season), the Dolphins (ditto), the Bills (same), the Eagles (same), and the Chiefs (even though the Lions already have beaten them). There’s a showdown looming with the Cowboys, but that doesn’t happen until Saturday, December 30.
It’s very important to have confidence, even if the confidence borders on delusion. It’s not nearly as delusional as it once was to think the Lions can play with everyone, and that they can indeed beat anyone.
The real test comes in January. They’ll win the division, barring disaster. Will they fatten up on a relatively soft schedule to get the No. 1 seed? And, regardless of whether they do, what will happen when they cross paths with the Eagles or the 49ers?
Believing they can beat them is the first step toward doing so.