Ben Johnson and the Chicago Bears had not one, but two players – right tackle Darnell Wright and tight end Durham Smythe – receive unfortunate notices from the NFL ahead of a critical showdown against the Green Bay Packers in Week 14.
The news comes as a result of infractions both players committed during the Bears’ win over the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 13.
They serve as an outlier, a sour note in an otherwise exalting victory.
NFL Fined Bears’ Darnell Wright, Durham Smythe
Durham Smythe Tagged With Fine
According to the NFL’s Football Operations Portal, and more specifically the Gameday Accountability section, Smythe received a $12,172 fine for “unneccessary roughness,” specifically an illegal “low block” during the first quarter.
It occurred on a running play where Smythe lined up at fullback. After going in motion and the snap, he threw a block on Eagles EDGE Jalyx Hunt.
Officials did not throw a flag on the play.
Section 2 Article 4 of the NFL rulebook states, “Blocks below the waist are prohibited in the following situations: (a) By players of either team after a change of possession; or (b) By players of the kicking team after a free kick, safety kick, fair catch kick, punt, field goal attempt, or Try kick; or (c) By players of the receiving team during a down in which there is a free kick, safety kick, fair catch kick, punt, field goal attempt, or Try kick; or (d) By players of either team during a scrimmage down prior to a change of possession unless the contact occurs in the tight end box.
As an added “note,” the NFL clarifies that “Players are prohibited from initiating contact below the waist of an opponent outside the tight end box (See 3-33), except against a runner or a player who is attempting to catch a forward or backward pass).”
Smythe’s penalty would seem to qualify for the added note more than anything else, with Hunt aligning just outside of Bears TE Cole Kmet before the play began.
Officials did not throw a flag on Wright’s fine-inducing play, either.
Darnell Wright Receives Costly Fine
Wright received a $23,186 fine for “unneccessary roughness” over what the league deemed to be illegal “use of the helmet. The incident occurred during the first quarter, when Wright delivered a block to Eagles edge rusher Jaelan Phillips.
However, the league determined he led with the crown of his helmet.
“It is a foul if a player: a) lowers his head and makes forcible contact with his helmet against an opponent; or b) uses any part of his helmet or facemask to butt or make forcible contact to an opponent’s head or neck,” the league stipulated in Section 2 Article 10 of the rulebook.
“These provisions do not prohibit incidental contact by the mask or the helmet in the course of a conventional tackle or block on an opponent.”
These are the first fines for Wright and Smythe in 2025, and the eighth and ninth for the Bears.
Eagles S Reed Blankenship Fined
The Bears were not the only ones to receive fines over the Eagles game, with the NFL docking Philadelphia safety Reed Blankenship $10,250 for UR over an illegal “hip-drop tackle” on Bears running back Kyle Monangai.
Like the Bears’ infractions, the incident occurred during the first quarter of the contest and did not draw a flag.
Monangai notably missed practice time due to an ankle injury in Week 14.
The NFL declared in Section 2 Article 18 of the rulebook that “It is a foul if a player uses the following technique to bring a runner to the ground: (a) grabs the runner with one or both hands or wraps the runner with both arms; and (b) unweights himself by swiveling and dropping his hips and/or lower body, landing on and/or trapping the runner’s leg(s) at or below the knee.”
It was a costlier week for the Bears, but neither side of a critical contest emerged completely unscathed.