Mac Jones’ $10K fine looks absurd compared to Bills fine for Jakobi Meyers concussion

The NFL handed out some puzzling fines, including a heftier punishment for Mac Jones than for Bills DB Damar Hamlin, who gave Jakobi Meyers a concussion.

Rules in the NFL can seem arbitrary at times — just ask any fan who has been on the wrong side of a bad call by subjective referees.

In line with that subjectivity, it almost seems like two different individuals determined separate fines to penalize players in the Patriots-Bills matchup. After the Patriots lost 24-10 to the Bills, Patriots quarterback Mac Jones was dealt another blow: a $10,609 fine for unsportsmanlike conduct.

The offending play consisted of Jones flipping a football off a Bills defender after a costly sack — an impolite gesture, surely, but one that’s fairly mild in a game where players gouge eyeballs in dog piles.

Even if $10K seems like pocket change for Jones, the issue is that a more physically detrimental play resulted in a fine that was less than half the cost, yet it caused a lot more damage for the opposing team. Jones’ ball hardly grazed his opponent’s leg, but Bills safety Damar Hamlin crashed into Jakobi Meyers to prevent a pass in the end zone. Hamlin was ejected for the hit, and Meyers walked off the field with a concussion. Hamlin is only facing a $4,806 fine for unnecessary roughness, while Meyers has already been ruled out for Monday as a result of the injury.

Patriots fans puzzled by disproportionate punishment for Mac Jones and Damar Hamlin

About a third of the NFL is feeling the pain of unsportsmanlike conduct fines after Week 13, but that doesn’t even account for all of the puzzling fines seen in the past week. New Orleans Saints defensive end Cam Jordan was handed a hefty $50,000 fine for allegedly faking an injury, but an MRI scan following the game affirmed that Jordan was actually injured. Bengals safety Jessie Bates also saw a $50,000 fine for the same.

Yet somehow, a Bills player who caused tangible brain damage on an ejection-worthy hit is fined half the price of a celebration. It’s a questionable move by a league that makes a show of valuing neurological health, yet is fining its players for causing much less actual harm. Dancing in the end zone or flipping a football in frustration is less harmful than a concussion in every measure imaginable, yet the fines are more focused on policing behavior than tackling methods.

As Ian Rapoport points out, there wasn’t even a flag thrown on Jones’ play.

While Jordan’s fine will likely be overturned in appeal, it’s tough to imagine Patriots fans getting justice for the penalty disparity at play.