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Bears Linebacker Avoids Big Fine for Sideline Hit on Jalen Hurts

The whole NFL controversy over sideline hits on quarterbacks is only heightened further by this decision on the part of the league not to fine D'Marco Jackson.
Gene Chamberlain|
Linebacker D'Marco Jackson walks off the field after the Bears' opening win over Carolina.
Linebacker D'Marco Jackson walks off the field after the Bears' opening win over Carolina. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

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Chicago Bears

After all of the angst over the hit by Bears linebacker D'Marco Jackson on Jalen Hurts and the penalty call in Monday's Bears win, there was no fine from the league involved.

The league fine for a sideline hit is a standard $11,941 for first offense but there was nothing for Jackson's shot on Hurts as he ran out of bounds in the Bears' 27-7 win.

The only Bears fines to date for play was Tyrique Stevenson at $22,342 last week for a Week 2 hit with his helmet and Jahdae Walker ($5,620) for taunting in Week 1.

The Eagles faced a second-and-4 Monday at the Bears 15 with 8:37 left in the second quarter and the Bears leading 7-0 in a 27-7 victory. Hurts scrambled right for a 2-yard gain but Philadelphia's Lane Johnson was flagged for holding on the play. Just after Hurts' toe touched down out of bounds, Jackson had lowered his shoulder and contact occurred, sending Hurts sprawling. He got up fine. Although the penalty was called, it was never assessed since there were offsetting flags on the play.

There was a repercussion from the play that had nothing to do with the flag itself. Hurts was called over to the sideline to be looked at for a possible concussion and he missed the end of the drive. It ended with back up QB Andy Dalton coming in and throwing a third-and-2 interception in the end zone to Bears rookie Dillon Thieneman.

The Eagles didn't seem too broken up about the whole thing at the time. Their fans were more upset on social media.

"Those guys are out there trying to make a play," Philadelphia coach Nick Sirianni said afterward. "It was close on the sideline, ended up being a penalty.

"Obviously, you never want to see your quarterback get hit like that, but it's in the heat of the moment."

The NFL's rule classifies players "heading out of bounds" as the same as players who are out of bounds. They didn't seem to mind when Kalif Raymond was merely standing out of bounds after a punt return and was clobbered against Minnesota, as no penalty or fine was issued.

The real conroversy with this play

The problem with this entire situation is the NFL has always been entirely inconsistent with the way quarterbacks are protected and aren't protected.

For example, they flag a play like this hit, but Patrick Mahomes was allowed to lower his shoulder at the sidelines as he's going out of bounds and level a tackler this season. Then there have been numerous instances when quarterbacks like Caleb Williams or Jordan Love have been clobbered well after a play while simply standing or after throwing and no flag is thrown. When the Bears had Justin Fields, he seemed to lead the league in getting hit after he slid without a flag being thrown.

As long as there is such a difference in the way officials call plays or protect quarterbacks, there will be plays like this. Indeed, the best way for a defensive player to handle it is to simply clobber the quarterback and take the penalty rather than suffer the indignity of giving up a big play or being embarrassed by a QB pulling the ball back and trying to run for extra yards — or lowering his shoulder like Mahomes.

When that happens, it puts QBs at risk and this is what the league has always sought to prevent. It's what they get for all of the inconsistent officiating.

Jackson has been on the field for only 38% of Bears defensive plays this season as a result of the tactical substitutions. Jackson has seven tackles on the season and has also been in on 27 special teams plays.

The tough part for Jackson is he got penalized and it wiped out a holding penalty on the Eagles, but later he was held badly directly in front of a ref by Saquon Barkley when he had Hurts dead to rights on a pass rush, was even tackled, and no call was made.

NFL officials. Go figure.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.

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