NFL hits Chicago Bears RB Roschon Johnson with tough news he didn’t want to hear during the team’s bye week
Tough news to get on the day off.
The Chicago Bears are still on the bye week and are not preparing for a game tomorrow, while the other teams in the league battle it out in Week 5.
In fact, the Bears won’t play the next game until Oct. 13 against the Washington Commanders on Monday Night Football, and they even have a few more days off before reporting back to practice.
Some players are taking the extended break to relax and get healthy, while some players, like quarterback Caleb Williams, are continuing to put in the work at the facilities. But, on Saturday, one Chicago Bears player got hit with some news he didn’t want to hear during his bye week break.
RB Roschon Johnson fined by the NFL after Week 4
Running back and special teamer Roschon Johnson got fined by the NFL on Saturday for a play he was involved in during the team’s Week 4 win over the Las Vegas Raiders.
Johnson was fined $6,790 for unnecessary roughness/use of the helmet that occurred early in the fourth quarter. The use of the helmet play worthy of the fine came on a kickoff following a field goal by Cairo Santos. After punter Tory Taylor kicked the ball off, Johnson went in to make the tackle and lowered his head to initiate contact on Raiders’ returner Raheem Mostert.
Seems like a pretty straightforward thing to enforce. It’s worth mentioning that the officials did not see Johnson lower his head to initiate contact, which should have been enforced with a 15-yard penalty. In fact, four total players were fined for use of the helmet in Week 4 alone, and no flags were thrown on those plays, including two similar to Johnson’s case, trying to make a tackle on kickoff coverage. Clearly, it’s something the officials are missing.
Johnson has appeared in three games this season, primarily playing on special teams despite the struggles in the run game on offense. The third-year running back has played 50 total special teams snaps and has four solo tackles, including the one that warranted the fine from last Sunday.
Johnson becomes the third Bears player to get hit with a fine this season, joining tight end Cole Kmet (unnecessary roughness/leg whip) and linebacker Noah Sewell (unnecessary roughness/hip-drop tackle), who were each fined in the regular season opener against the Minnesota Vikings.
All money collected by the NFL from fines is donated to the Professional Athletes Foundation and the NFL Foundation.