We noted last month that the Lions could be in hot water with the NFL for the way they reported quarterback Matthew Stafford’s back injury, and today the fines came in.
The NFL fined the Lions $75,000, coach Matt Patricia $25,000 and General Manager Bob Quinn $10,000 for violating the league’s injury reporting rules by failing to update Stafford’s game status as soon as they knew he would miss the November 10 game against the Bears.
Stafford had been saying leading up to that week that he was “good to go” for the Bears game, and the Lions listed him as questionable and never changed that designation until he was declared out 90 minutes before kickoff. But multiple Lions players told reporters that they were told the day before the game that Stafford wasn’t playing.
The NFL previously fined the Steelers and head coach Mike Tomlin for failing to properly report on Ben Roethlisberger’s injury this season. The Lions are the latest team to run afoul of the rules.