NFL slaps New York Giants’ Xavier McKinney, Carter Coughlin with fines

The New York Giants upset the New England Patriots, 10-7, in Week 12 and then immediately headed into their bye week. But when they return on Monday, two players will have envelopes from the league waiting for them.

Safety Xavier McKinney was fined $13,659 for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty committed with just seconds remaining in the game.

#NYGiants safety Xavier McKinney was fined $13,659 for unsportsmanlike conduct with six seconds left in Sunday’s 10-7 win over Patriots.

McKinney was flagged on the missed field goal.

— Art Stapleton (@art_stapleton) December 2, 2023

For McKinney, this is his second (known) fine of the season. He was also docked $14,833 for a late hit on Terry McLaurin back in Week 7.

In addition to McKinney, linebacker Carter Coughlin was fined $5,764 for unnecessary roughness in the second quarter. He was not penalized on the play, so his fine will likely be appealed.

The NFL fined Giants special teamer Carter Coughlin $5,764 for this hit on which he was not flagged pic.twitter.com/QnOpKG0UjV

— Jonathan Jones (@jjones9) December 2, 2023

Apparently, in the mind of league officials, Coughlin is just supposed to let the return man run right by him as opposed to making the tackle. Or something.

Meanwhile, linebacker Cam Brown was not fined for a big special teams hit on wide receiver Pop Douglas. The Patriots were furious over the play and Douglas ended up in concussion protocol.

“The refs need to do something about that because that’s some (expletive). They need to either throw a flag or something,” Patriots wide receiver DeVante Parker said after the game. “This ain’t no (expletive) wrestling.”

“To me, that’s a joke. You can’t say you care about player safety and not flag that play,” Patriots safety Jabrill Peppers added.

The Patriots did not receive any fines from the league.

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