Aaron Glenn and the New York Jets escaped Week 1 unscathed in terms of drawing ire from the NFL, but their opponent–the Tenneessee Titans–were not as fortunate. The NFL fined Titans wide receiver Calvin Ridley for his actions in the Titans’ loss to the Jets.
Ridley received a $12,537 fine for “unnecessary roughness” in the first quarter against the Jets last Sunday.
It was more specifically for what the league qualified as “striking/kicking/tripping/kneeing.”
Notably, Ridley, a former first-round pick of the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2018, finished that contest without so much as a target from Titans quarterback Cam Ward. That is despite logging 64% of the Titans’ offensive snaps, per Pro Football Reference.
NFL Doubles Back for Calvin Ridley After Jets-Titans
Also notable is that Ridley was not flagged for the infraction during the game, and there were no penalties called that figured to draw fines from the NFL in real-time.
That makes this a bit of a surprise.
During the first quarter of the eventual 2-10 Jets win, Ridley went out on a route but turned into a blocker on a tight end screen to Gunnar Helm. While engaged on his block, Ridley threw strikes at Jets edge defender Will McDonald IV’s helmet/head/facemask.
The interaction ended without incident, forcing a fourth down and leading to a punt without a flag thrown in real-time. The NFL gave Ridley the full fine for a first-time offense, though.
That is notable in a week where they went under that in several other instances.
If Ridley commits another such infraction, his fine could reach $18,507. The Jets avoided getting fined themselves. Moreover, they also saw the league exact some measure of justice for McDonald.
McDonald and the Jets will look to keep up their clean slate in Week 2 against the Green Bay Packers. Ridley will look to be better when the Titans face the Philadelphia Eagles.
Veteran Wide Receiver Punished After Jets Beat Titans in Week 1