Fine, we'll talk about it@camjordan94 explains what 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 happened during his injury on MNF that led to a bye week fine #Saints pic.twitter.com/hymCvVzlaJ
Buy Saints Tickets— The 33rd Team (@The33rdTeamFB) December 14, 2022
They wouldn’t be the New Orleans Saints without some unexpected controversy during their bye week. The Saints were struck with a whopping $550,000 in fines by the NFL office for allegedly faking an injury during their Week 13 prime-time loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, with the league claiming that they believed Jordan was instructed to go down midway through the fourth quarter to slow down a Bucs possession.
The Saints responded by roundly denying the accusations and saying they’ll appeal the fines to Jordan, his position coach Ryan Nielsen, and head coach Dennis Allen. On Wednesday, Jordan issued his own response to the situation.
“I got fined on my days off!” Jordan exclaimed in an interview with The 33rd Team. “I went down, thought I rolled an ankle, it wasn’t an ankle sprain it ended up being a mid-foot sprain. I don’t even know what that is, it’s never happened to me before.”
Jordan said that he spent his bye week in New Orleans receiving treatment at the team facility and watching game tape, and that he’s just relieved it isn’t a serious injury. He added with a sigh, “Moral of the story is, the NFL is sending messages: ‘Maybe you shouldn’t go down when you’re hurt.’ Kidding, you should always take care of your players. My team, my coaches, everybody around me was trying to make me do the right thing.”
It’s been a mess. Jordan told ESPN’s Katherine Terrell earlier this week that he considered the fine as a slight against his reputation, and that he would have countersued for triple the amount if this had occurred in civil court. He’s missed just two games in his pro career (once while entering COVID-19 protocols, and recently due to an orbital bone fracture) since the Saints drafted him in 2011, and he’s well-known in league circles as a modern-day ironman. We’ll see whether the NFL recants on their stance after Jordan and the Saints make their case.
