Cincinnati Bengals safety Jessie Bates is down $50,000, pending appeal, after the NFL came after him for allegedly faking an injury during a win over the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 13.
We documented the funny occurrence here, in which Bates was fine in a huddle near the endzone until he saw players running onto the field late, then went down with an injury. He missed a single snap.
NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported the $50,000 and added context: “Several teams, coaches and players have been fined this season for violating the rules regarding unnecessarily stopping the game, per sources. The NFL sent a memo to clubs Dec. 2 saying minimum fines are $350K for clubs, $100K for head coach, $50K for players/assistant coaches.”
This one wasn’t hard to see coming and it’s hard to imagine Bates and/or the Bengals (if they’re fined, too) can throw out much of an argument during the appeals process.
The Bengals did throw Bates on the Monday injury report after he told reporters he felt a groin issue during the injury. But again, an appeal here is pretty much just to say they did, as there’s a near-zero chance it gets overturned now that the NFL can make an example of something they’ve been stressing to teams and players.
