Patriots’ Demario Douglas Fined For Unnecessary Roughness Vs. Chiefs

New England Patriots wide receiver Damario Douglas couldn’t avoid NFL discipline before taking the field in Week 16 against the Denver Broncos.

On Saturday, Douglas was fined $4,352 for unnecessary roughness, according to ESPN’s Mike Reiss, during last week’s 27-17 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.

In the first quarter of New England’s Week 15 loss, Douglas was flagged for a personal foul. The play occurred with 5:55 minutes remaining when the 23-year-old grabbed the facemask of Kansas City’s Trent McDuffie while trying to create space midway through a Patriots drive.

Earlier this month, controversy surrounded Douglas, but for discipline that wasn’t issued by the league.

While taking on the New York Giants in Week 12, Douglas got drilled with a wrestling-like clothesline by special teamer Cam Brown. The hit proved to be enough to place Douglas in the concussion protocol, but not enough for the NFL to fine Brown a single dollar.

In real-time, Brown wasn’t even flagged for the play either.

“It’s crazy they preach all this players safety stuff, but that doesn’t get flagged,” Patriots teammate Jabrill Peppers told Chris Mason of MassLive. “I’ve been fined maybe two or three times for clean hits, so that (expletive) me off too. Then they even looked at the jumbotron and saw it and still no flag. But you can’t say anything about the refs in this league.”

The Patriots, losers in two of three games in December, have just three left scheduled before closing out their draft-friendly campaign once and for all.