NFL punishes Bears player TJ Edwards for illegal hip-drop tackle

Bears linebacker TJ Edwards received no penalty for his hip-drop tackle on Sunday, but was fined for it six days later.

The NFL fined Joe Mixon $16,833 on Saturday for a third-quarter hit that sent the Texans running back to the sidelines with an ankle injury. Mixon played seven snaps the rest of the game and will miss this week’s game against the Vikings.

This season, the NFL has banned the hip-drop tackle, a rugby-style move in which a defender rotates his hips, shifts his weight and drops onto the ball carrier’s legs.

“The NFL and NFLPA made it a rule and a focus for a reason,” Mixon wrote on X after the game. “It’s time to let actions speak.”

Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said this week that although Edwards was not penalized, he “definitely” used the banned technique.

The NFL fined defensive tackle Zacch Pickens $7,000 for hitting quarterback CJ Stroud in the head and neck in the second quarter and cornerback Tyrique Stevenson $8,143 for taunting in the first quarter. Texans receiver Nico Collins was fined $11,817 for hitting Stevenson after he taunted him.