Pete Carroll, Sean Payton, two Jaguars assistants fined $10K apiece for improperly entering field

ByBRADY HENDERSON
December 15, 2017, 4:55 PM

— -- The NFL has fined Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll, New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton and two Jacksonville Jaguars assistants $10,000 apiece for improperly entering the field during their Week 14 games.

Seahawks defensive end? Michael Bennett, meanwhile,?was not fined after receiving a penalty for unnecessary roughness in the game against the Jaguars.

Carroll's fine and that of the two Jaguars assistants -- offensive line coach Pat Flaherty and wide receivers coach Keenan McCardell -- stem from a heated ending to Jacksonville's 30-24 win over Seattle on Sunday. The two teams scuffled on consecutive plays as the Jaguars were in victory formation and Seattle's defensive linemen continued to fire off the ball.

After the first scuffle, Bennett attempted to swipe at the snap and fell into the legs of Jaguars center Brandon Linder.

Carroll ran onto the field after the second scuffle in what he said was an attempt to rein in his players. He was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct. McCardell and Flaherty also came onto the field at the same time to pull back Jaguars players.

"I was trying to get our guys to not carry on any further," Carroll said postgame. "They were trying to fight to get the ball back, and there wasn't the chance to do it at that point. I was just trying to slow them down. I talked to [referee Gene Steratore] about it a couple of plays before it, and I just tried to make a statement to our guys so we didn't finish with any more garbage happening out there."

On Friday, Carroll said he wasn't surprised by his fine, saying he knew it would happen when he ran onto the field.

"It's just something that needed to be done at the time," he said. "Really, when you think about it in the big picture, the money goes to a good cause. This time of the year, giving is everything."

Rule 3, Section 37, Article 1 of the NFL's rule book states: "During any timeout, including an intermission, all playing rules continue in effect. Representatives of either team are prohibited from entering the field, unless they are incoming substitutes, or team attendants or trainers entering to provide for the welfare of a player, and any game-type activities are prohibited on the Field of Play. The Head Coach may enter the field to check on the welfare of a player who is injured, but no assistant coach may enter the field."

The fights led to ejections for Seattle's Quinton Jefferson and Sheldon Richardson. Jacksonville running back Leonard Fournette was also penalized for unnecessary roughness.

Jefferson and Richardson were each fined $9,115 each for unnecessary roughness,?Seattle's? Germain Ifedi?was fined $24,309 for verbal abuse of a referee and Fournette was fined $12,154 for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Jefferson was making his way off the field after his ejection when fans began throwing drinks at him from the stands. He attempted to scale the railing to confront a fan before he was pulled down by a member of the Seahawks' equipment staff and forced into the tunnel.

Payton was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct after yelling at officials on the field during the Saints' loss to Atlanta last Thursday. He did not receive further discipline for critical comments he made to the media about the officiating in that game.

"I called a timeout, and then he asked me again and I said, 'I've already called the timeout.' I probably said it with a little more oomph or vigor than I was supposed to, but I had enough. I gotta be smarter than that," Payton explained after the game.

However, Payton made it clear both Thursday night and the following Friday that he was not happy with a series of questionable calls throughout the game.

"It's frustrating when you have a game, instead of it being decided on the field like it's supposed to, you have a crew make so many mistakes in one event," Payton said last Friday. "I thought the officiating was extremely poor -- inconsistent would be a great way to put it. I thought that had a lot to do with the way this game ended, and that's the thing that was most frustrating ...

"And I think it's been a problem all year. And it's something that's gonna have to be addressed from a leadership standpoint at the top in our league office. ... It's something that's come up with other teams earlier in the year, even some of the replay. It's just a confidence level that has to be improved."

ESPN's Mike Triplett and Michael DiRocco contributed to this report.