Michael Bennett wasn’t fined, but 3 other players were for Jaguars-Seahawks fight

Sheldon Richardson and Quinton Jefferson avoided suspensions for their actions against the Jacksonville Jaguars, but the Seahawks defensive linemen will each have to pay hefty fines. The NFL issued $9,115 fines to the two players, according to Ian Rapoport.

Jaguars running back Leonard Fournette also received a $12,154 fine for his involvement, while Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett didn’t receive any punishment.

Seattle offensive lineman Germain Ifedi received the biggest fine of the game, $24,309, for verbal abuse of an official. That was probably unrelated to the chaos at end of the game, though. Ifedi received a penalty early in the game that was called “taunting an official” by the head referee.

What happened? With a 30-24 lead late in the fourth quarter, the Jaguars pretty much had the game sealed and decided to line up in victory formation. When quarterback Blake Bortles took the snap and kneeled to milk the clock, Richardson threw a punch at rookie running back Leonard Fournette and was immediately tossed from the game.

Jefferson was tossed from the game after the following play. When Jefferson ran off the field and into the tunnel, a fan threw a drink at him. Then, Jefferson turned back around and began to argue with those fans, who threw more drinks at him, one of which almost hit him in the head. So, he ran to the railing and attempted to climb over it.

But some of Seattle’s personnel and equipment staff quickly pulled Jefferson off the railing and ushered him to the tunnel. The $9,115 fine for Jefferson was for the on-field actions that got him ejected, though, and it’s possible that his attempt to climb into the stands could still result in another punishment.

But the chaos didn’t stop there. During the Richardson-Fournette brouhaha, Bennett rolled into Jaguars center Brandon Linder’s legs and began to wrestle with him.

However, the officials did not eject Bennett from the game.

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the league “determined that Michael Bennett was really diving for the football, not at the knees of a Jaguars player.” That explains why he was not punished for his actions by the league. Bennett said he wasn’t surprised by the NFL’s decision.

Richardson said the reason why he threw a punch was because “a guy grabbed me after the whistle blew,“ via ESPN’s Brady Henderson.

“I was protecting myself and things got a little hot. There was some shoving and I was protecting my teammates. That’s the way it goes,” Richardson said.

Later in the week, Jefferson said he remembered hearing one derogatory comment from a fan:

Why is this important? Luckily for Seattle, no players will be suspended for the Seahawks’ NFC West showdown against the division-leading Los Angeles Rams.

Seattle will already go into its matchup against the Rams without safety Kam Chancellor and cornerback Richard Sherman. Linebackers Bobby Wagner and K.J. Wright sustained injuries against Jacksonville and both are in doubt against the Rams, a game that could ultimately decide this year’s NFC West champion.