New Orleans Saints fined for faking injury

The NFL has fined the New Orleans Saints, head coach Dennis Allen, defensive line coach Ryan Nielsen and defensive end Cameron Jordan a total of more than half a million dollars for faking an injury during the Week 13 game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The organization was fined $350,000 while the head coach was fined $100,000. In the case of Nielsen and Jordan, both were fined $50,000.

The injury stopped play

The play in question occurred during the fourth quarter, in which Jordan grabbed his knee after a third down that put the Buccaneers at 4th and 10 yards to go. When the game resumed, the Tampa Bay team made a punt.

According to the Policy Manual for Clubs – Game Operations noted in the NFL Network report, “any deliberate attempt by a team or player to stop play unnecessarily will be considered an unfair act and could be sanctioned”.

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Saints deny it

Through a statement, the New Orleans team denied the accusations of delaying the resumption of play. The Saints will also appeal the fines.

“The New Orleans Saints deny the allegations of delaying the game during Monday afternoon. Cameron Jordan felt pain in his foot during a play on third down and called for medical attention. He entered the blue tent and was evaluated by the medical team. After that, he was bandaged and was able to finish the game. The next day he had an MRI which turned out to be a sprained left foot."

“The Saints will appeal the fines through the appropriate means and we believe the allegations will be proven incorrect.”