New England Patriots Pair Receive NFL Fines
After almost a week to review games, the NFL announced its Week 3 fines on Saturday, and a pair of New England Patriots are a little lighter in the pocketbook.
While quarterback Mac Jones escaped punishment for his alleged hit on Sauce Gardner, safety Jabrill Peppers and wideout JuJu Smith-Schuster were both slapped with fines for unnecessary roughness during New England's 15-10 win over the New York Jets. Smith-Schuster’s was for $16,391, and Peppers’s cost him $43,709.
The penalty to Peppers was not called during the game but occurred in the second quarter with head-to-head contact with Jets running back Breece Hall during a tackle. The NFL can, as in this case, review games after they're completed to find punishable offenses that were not called on the field.
Smith-Schuster was flagged on the field for a blindside block on Jets linebacker C.J. Mosely in the third quarter. Mosely immediately jumped up looking for a flag, frustrated by the play.
Jabrill Peppers (L) and JuJu Smith-Schuster
One notable play on the field between the Patriots and Jets was missing from the list of fines. The NFL opted not to incur a fine to New England's Jones.
The league cited "not enough sufficient evidence" to levy a fine on Jones. Gardner claims Jones "cup-checked" him by hitting him in "private parts" during a shoving match between both teams in the fourth quarter on Sunday.
Gardner body-slammed Jones after the incident then took to social media after the game in an attempt to back up his claim by posting a video of the alleged incident. “Posting this so I don’t get fined lol,” Gardner wrote in the video accompanying the post.
It was reported earlier in the week that Jones wouldn't face a suspension for the alleged hit, but a fine was still in play until Saturday.
