Two Detroit Lions players are in a bit of trouble following their plays in the Lions’ game against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, December 15. Those two players are linebacker Kwon Alexander, and defensive back Brian Branch, and now, the guys have to pay up.
Alexander, specifically, was fined as the result of a play he had with Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen.
Following Bills Game, Two Lions Players Fined
The NFL has fined Alexander $6,722 for “roughing the passer,” with the passer, of course, being Josh Allen. The incident happened late in the second quarter of the game. On the NFL’s official page, they described it as “roughing the passer” with a blow to the head/neck.
The NFL also fined Branch $10,128 for “taunting” and “unsportsmanlike conduct.” None of the members of the Buffalo Bills were handed fines as a result of the Lions game.
Alexander is new to the Lions and signed to their active roster off the Denver Broncos‘ practice squad towards the end of Novemebr, after Malcolm Rodriguez suffered a torn ACL. While Alexander is a new Lion, he’s not new to the NFL. He’s been in the NFL for about a decade and has played for several teams.
When Detroit brought Alexander into the fold, Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn talked him up. Glenn and Alexander worked together in New Orleans.
“Listen, I told the staff immediately that you’re going to love the practice habits of this player from walkthrough to true practice habits because of how intentional he is about his work,” Glenn said of Alexander, according to Sports Illustrated. “He’s very, very vocal and he understands, as a linebacker, that you actually lead the team from that aspect, and he does a good job of that.”
Glenn added that Alexander “plays fast. His instincts to me are just on another level of understanding the game, and when you have a player like that, you’ve been around him, man, you want to get as many of those players back as you can. So, for us to get a chance to have that player back, it was important for us to bring him back. I think he enjoys playing for us also.”
Lions Are Back on Top After Bears Win
The Detroit Lions have put their loss to the Bills behind them and beat the Bears in Chicago on Sunday, December 22, in a 34-17 victory. Now, the Lions haven’t lost back-to-back games since they were 1-6 in 2022.
“It’s really what all of those guys, everybody in this team is made of, from the coaches to the players that we acquire and that we bring in, and it really is because of the people,” Lions head coach Dan Campbell said regarding the showing, per the Lions. “I’m always going to use (Amon-Ra) St. Brown as an example, but getting the bad taste out of your mouth is very important from losing and cleaning up the errors and not accepting what happened.”
Campbell added, “It’s never a go in the tank, lose confidence, you want to compete. And I just think that we have a whole group of those guys. That’s what we’re made of, that’s what our locker room’s made of.”
