How Dolphins Rookie Chris Johnson's Fine Mess Could Become an Issue Later On

The Miami Dolphins cornerback was fined for a play that occurred in the season opener against the Las Vegas Raiders

Miami Dolphins cornerback Chris Johnson (10) works during rookie minicamp at Baptist Health Training Complex. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Chris Johnson Jr. had by all accounts a pretty difficult NFL debut in the Miami Dolphins' season opener against the Las Vegas Raiders, and it got more painful once the league office was involved.

Johnson was fined $17,911 for a hip-drop tackle against running back Ashton Jeanty in the third quarter, a play for which he was not flagged.

What's more consequential here for Johnson is that as part of a new rule in 2026, repeat offenders in one of three categories now can be suspended for a game with three violations, and hip-drop tackles is one of them — the other two are blindside blocks and hits on a defenseless player.

Johnson always has the option of appealing the fines. He was one of 20 players fined for Week 1 violations, though his fine was tied for third-highest.

For those wondering, cornerback JuJu Brents was not fined for his taunting penalty, a call that was borderline at best, though he should be more careful than to put himself in a situation (almost standing over a receiver after Zayne Anderson's big hit caused an incompletion) where he gave the official a reason to throw the flag.

JOHNSON'S NFL DEBUT

The play involved Johnson was an 8-yard run to the right side on first-and-10 with the Dolphins trailing 17-13 in the third quarter. After Jeanty turned the corner on the Dolphins defense, Johnson chased him down near the sideline and brought him down from behind with a tackle that pretty much did look like a hip-drop tackle.

Linebacker Jacob Rodriguez also was involved in the play and perhaps obscured the official from Johnson's tackle.

The Raiders scored two plays later on a pass from Kirk Cousins to Jeanty good for 13 yards.

The tackle was one of 11 on the day for Johnson, one of them being for a loss.

In coverage, Johnson allowed only six completions while being targeted 11 times, but two of those completions were touchdowns, Jeanty's first of two touchdowns in the second quarter and one to Jack Bech to open the scoring.

"You could say (Cousins) targeted Chris, I think he put the ball where we allowed him to and maybe we weren't clean on all those calls or we could have been better, whether it's technique or execution of a call," defensive coordinator Sean Duggan said this week. "But one thing I did like about him, and you can see it this week in practice, is he's responded. He hasn't gone in the tank. He's a confident player who knows he's good, knows he has ability. So that's been good to see, especially at DB where everyone knows who the ball gets caught on. They don't know the ins and outs of the call, or maybe this guy should have been here, or maybe his leverage is this because of this in the call, they just go, ‘oh, he caught the pass.’ I think Chris has done a really good job and he's a really good player. He's going to continue to get better as this year goes."