NFL reportedly fines Saints, Cameron Jordan $550K for allegedly faking ‘MNF’ injury

The NFL reportedly fined the New Orleans Saints $550,000 after defensive end Cameron Jordan went down with an allegedly fake injury in a loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday, according to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk.

Jordan’s injury forced a stoppage during the fourth quarter as the Buccaneers sped to set up on the line of scrimmage at fourth-and-10.

Cameras allegedly captured Jordan "receiving direction" from the sideline to go down with an injury and force the stoppage, according to Florio.

The Saints released a statement Saturday denying "any allegations of purposefully delaying the game on Monday evening," and committed to appeal the fines.

The team said Jordan went down with pain in his left foot and had an MRI performed the next day, which confirmed that he sustained an acute mid-foot sprain.

The Saints were fined $350,000, Jordan was fined $50,000, defensive line coach Ryan Nielsen was fined $50,000 and head coach Dennis Allen was fined $100,000.

Jordan called the fine the “most expensive fine to date.” He also questioned the transparency and legitimacy of the league’s process for levying fines in a series of tweets from Saturday morning.

The NFL reportedly sent a memo to all teams Friday, Dec. 2, warning against “deliberate actions to delay the game” after the league observed “multiple instances of clubs making a deliberate attempt to stop play unnecessarily this season," per Pro Football Talk.

The memo outlined a process for assessing alleged violations with interviews and reviews of medical records.

“Clubs and individuals determined to be in violation of this rule will be subject to League discipline ‘to include a minimum fine of $350,000 for the club, a minimum fine of $100,000 for the head coach, a minimum fine of $50,000 for assistant coaches, if applicable, and a minimum fine of $50,000 for players," the league reportedly wrote.

If nothing else, the swiftness with which the Saints were reprimanded shows that the NFL is serious about preventing deliberate attempts to stall offenses in pivotal late-game moments.

However, the Saints were not the only team reprimanded for allegedly faking an injury recently and they likely won’t be the last.

The NFL’s attempts to manage alleged fake injuries

In Sunday's game against the Kansas City Chiefs, Cincinnati Bengals defensive back Jessie Bates III was criticized for appearing to fake an injury to help his team complete a substitution. He and the Bengals were also hit with fines totaling $500,000 on Saturday, according to multiple reports.

Beyond that, memos from the NFL similar to the one reportedly issued last Friday date back years.

In 2014, then-NFL vice president of officiating Dean Blandino sent a similar memo in response to former Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher admitting his team faked injuries when he played.

In 2011, the NFL sent another league-wide memo warning of fines, suspensions and the loss of draft picks if the league determines players faked injuries during a game.

Two days later, there was speculation that the Giants' Deon Grant faked an injury against the Rams.