The NFL elevated one of their policies recently.

Many fans were not aware, but the league stepped up its surveillance on players faking injuries in early December. Most folks found out when fines were handed out last week.

Multiple players got those fines, and coaching staffs were not immune to them, either. The most notable fine was to the New Orleans Saints.

The NFL felt that Saints' pass rusher Cameron Jordan faked an injury in their game versus the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Clearly, the league felt that Jordan and the Saints were attempting to get a small break in the action during a pivotal part of the game.

The fines were costly for multiple parts of the Saints. Jordan and his position coach, Ryan Nielsen, were fined $50,000. Dennis Allen was fined $100,000. The NFL fined the Saints organization $350,000.

Quite the pocket pull based on suspicion.

The league is walking on thin ice when it comes to policies like this one. It is quite difficult to prove that a player faked an injury, especially in Jordan's case.

Jordan went to the medical tent for care after leaving the field, and he did not return to the field until the Bucs' next drive.

I'm watching the Bucs game play-by-play right now to see where the incident in question occurred. FWIW, Cam Jordan did not come back in the game until play 4 of the Bucs next offensive drive. That could have been a personnel choice, just wanted to note it though

— Katherine Terrell (@Kat_Terrell) December 10, 2022

He missed multiple important plays, yet the NFL felt strongly enough about their findings to levy plenty of fines to the team.

Regardless, it is something to keep an eye on going forward.

No players should be faking injuries. We can all agree on that. How the league determines intent regarding the injuries is the most interesting piece of this entire situation.

There is a possibility that the Saints' star defender, as well as coaches and the team, just got the short end of the stick on a new policy.

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