The NFL fined eight players for illegal use of the helmet from Week 7 games, and only one of those plays drew a flag when it happened. Giants running back Cam Skattebo, penalized for unnecessary roughness after he lowered his head into Texans safety M.J. Stewart, was fined $7,073. The other seven were caught only in the league’s review of game film during the week, including Denver Broncos linebacker Alex Singleton, who was fined $47,762 as a repeat offender.
The fines were announced on Saturday, Oct. 31, with the rest of the weekly list. They show how the rule against lowering the helmet to start forcible contact is enforced in practice: it costs players money far more often than it costs their teams yards.
Here’s the play that got Alex Singleton fined nearly $48,000.
— Parker Gabriel (@ParkerJGabriel) October 31, 2026
Singleton’s fourth fine in seven games
Singleton was fined for a third-quarter tackle of Cardinals running back Tyler Allgeier in Denver’s 30-16 win in Arizona last Sunday. He was not penalized on the play. It is his fourth fine in seven games: $11,941 for a late hit in Week 1, $17,911 for a hit on a defenseless player in Week 2, which was rescinded on appeal, and $23,882 for use of the helmet in Week 6. Because the Week 7 fine was his second for the same violation in consecutive weeks, the amount roughly doubled. Counting the rescinded one, the league has fined him $101,496 this season.
Mike Klis reported that Singleton will appeal. The veteran linebacker is having one of the best statistical seasons of his career; he made 19 tackles in the win over Arizona and leads the league in tackles by a wide margin. His teammate, safety Brandon Jones, was fined $23,882 for a first-quarter use-of-helmet violation in the same game, the standard figure for a first offense.
Brian Branch’s return comes with a bill
Detroit Lions safety Brian Branch was also fined $23,882 for a hit on Green Bay tight end Tucker Kraft with 3:39 left in the first quarter of the Lions’ 20-17 win last Sunday. No flag was thrown. The game was Branch’s season debut after he tore his Achilles tendon in December 2025, and he also intercepted a pass. The hit is part of a game the Packers have complained about loudly; our story on Green Bay’s officiating complaints has the details.
The full helmet list
The other five fines were smaller. Bears cornerback Clark Phillips was fined $11,550 for using his helmet while tackling Patriots quarterback Drake Maye on Thursday night, Colts cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt $7,791, 49ers running back Jordan James $6,194 for a play at Atlanta, Skattebo $7,073 and Steelers receiver Brandon Smith $4,916. The league’s fine schedule lists standard amounts, but fines for younger players on smaller contracts are often set lower.
Of the eight, only Skattebo’s play was flagged. That is the play that prompted coach John Harbaugh to ask the league for an explanation earlier this week, as our story on Skattebo’s lowered-helmet penalty explains. The rule applies to ball carriers as well as tacklers, and Skattebo has said he will not change the way he runs.
Why so few flags
The rule, in place since 2018, bars any player from lowering his head to initiate contact with his helmet, but officials are expected to flag it only when the violation is clear. They see the play once at full speed, and many of these hits happen in a pile or at the end of a run. As a result, most of the enforcement happens afterward, in the league office’s review of every game.
For teams, that means the penalty they feared on Sunday rarely comes. For players, the cost is real and grows with repeat offenses, which is why Singleton went from $23,882 to $47,762 in one week. Players can appeal through the process in the labor agreement, where fines are heard by appeals officers appointed jointly by the league and the players’ union. Earlier this season, one of Singleton’s fines was rescinded that way.
The rest of the Week 7 list
The helmet fines came alongside the rest of the weekly list, led by Dre Greenlaw’s third discipline of the season and Darnell Washington’s Paris celebration. Our Week 7 fines roundup covers those, along with the hip-drop fine on M.J. Stewart. Lions linebacker Derrick Barnes was fined $11,941 for a flagged late hit against the Packers, and Green Bay cornerback Brandon Cisse was fined $9,459 for taunting.
Fines from Week 8, which finishes with Bears-Seahawks on Monday night, are due late next week.
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