Getty Safety Minkah Fitzpatrick didn't receive a fine, but five other Pittsburgh Steelers players did, including running back Jaylen Warren.
Week 2 wasn’t as costly from an injury standpoint as Week 1 was for the Pittsburgh Steelers. But Week 2 was costly to some Pittsburgh players’ wallets.
The NFL fined five Steelers players because of their actions during the Monday night matchup against the Cleveland Browns. Running back Jaylen Warren received the biggest fine of $48,000 for the Steelers. The second-year running back committed what the league called, “unnecessary roughness.”
Warren, though, was not called for an unnecessary roughness penalty on the play during the game.
Steelers linebackers Kwon Alexander and Elandon Roberts also received hefty fines of $43,000. Safety Damontae Kazee was fined $11,800 while DeMarvin Leal received a $6,500 fine.
Steelers had 5 players fined from Browns game: Alexander, Leal, Kazee, Warren and Roberts. Jaylen Warren got hit hardest at $48k for unnecessary roughness. Roberts and Alexander each docked $43k. Leal fine is $6,500 and Kazee $11,800.
Safety Minkah Fitzpatrick was not fined despite fans on social media labeling his hit on Browns running back Nick Chubb “dirty.” Fitzpatrick tackled Chubb by diving into his legs while Steelers linebacker Cole Holcomb had Chubb wrapped up near the Steelers 5-yard line early in the second quarter.
Chubb suffered a gruesome knee injury on the play.
“The NFL did not fine Steelers S Minkah Fitzpatrick for the hit to Browns RB Nick Chubb’s season Monday night,” NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero wrote. “A legal play with a very unfortunate ending.”
ESPN analyst Ryan Clark defended Fitzpatrick for his tackling style on Chubb. So did Browns defensive end Myles Garrett.
“Minkah didn’t do anything illegal. He was playing the game how it’s supposed to be played,” Garrett told the media on September 22. “It was very unfortunate what happened, Nick getting held up but just having, just planting his foot and the hit and all that. That’s not unlike what corners around the league do.
“This is something that’s very common.”
NFL Fines RB Jaylen Warren
The 24-year-old was one of the better Steelers players on offense in Week 2, but his performance didn’t come without consequences.
Warren’s big fine came on arguably his best snap of Monday night. On third-and-3 early in the second quarter, he caught a pass in the flat and ran for a 30-yard gain.
Toward the end of the run, Warren appeared to lower his helmet into the incoming Browns tackler, safety Juan Thornhill.
Thornhill made contact with Warren’s helmet while tackling the running back to the sideline. But the NFL deemed Warren in the wrong.
On a similar type of play involving Alexander, though, it was the Steelers defensive player who was wrong for appearing to lower his helmet on a tackle attempt along the sidelines.
I know fines are preset amounts by the NFL but Kwon Alexander really got fined over $43,000 for this. #Steelers
The NFL also fined Alexander for a hit he delivered during the preseason, but the league recently retracted that fine.
The league labeled the fines for the other three Steelers players in the “unnecessary roughness” category.
NFL Fines Deshaun Watson For Three Incidents From Monday Night
Pittsburgh players weren’t the only ones fined because of plays from the latest Steelers-Browns chapter in the historic rivalry.
Quarterback Deshaun Watson, by himself, earned three separate fines. Two were classified “unnecessary roughness” while the third was labeled “unsportsmanlike conduct.”
In total, the fines will cost Watson more than $35,000.
Watson’s two “unnecessary roughness” fines were from grabbing at the face masks of two Steelers defenders while using a stiff arm. Watson received a 15-yard penalty for each infraction.
The “unsportsmanlike conduct” fine was for a “violent gesture” after one of the Browns’ touchdowns.
Tight end David Njoku participated in the same “violent gesture” and received the same fine.
Here’s the “violent gesture” that led to one of Deshaun Watson’s three fines from Monday night.
Watson and David Njoku were each fined $13,659 for the gun-themed celebration after a #Browns TD. Watson was fined $35,513 total, including two fines for unnecessary roughness.
The third Browns player to receive a fine was running back Jerome Ford. He earned a $5,281 fine for “unnecessary roughness.”
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Minkah Fitzpatrick Avoids Fine, NFL Hammers Steelers RB for Non-Penalized Hit