Jones hit with $28,940 amid flurry of league fines

[January 16, 2016]  (Reuters) - The National Football League dished out six more fines on Friday stemming from the ill-tempered AFC Wild Card game between Cincinnati and Pittsburgh last week, with Bengals cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones incurring the heaviest.

Jones was fined $28,940 after drawing an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for physical contact with a game official when he raged against Steelers assistant Joey Porter, who had ventured onto the field among Bengals players.

Steelers coaches Porter and Mike Munchak were each fined $10,000 for their actions, while Steelers offensive lineman Ramon Foster was penalized $17,363 for unnecessary roughness, an NFL spokesman told Reuters.

The league also fined Bengals defensive tackle Domata Peko (unnecessary roughness) and defensive end Wallace Gilberry (unsportsmanlike conduct) $8,681 apiece.

Those fines followed a three-game suspension given to Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict on Monday for repeated violations of player safety rules.

Burfict's punishment came after he struck Pittsburgh wide receiver Antonio Brown in the head on a passing play late in Saturday's playoff game, a collision that ultimately helped the Steelers claim a last-gasp 18-16 win to end the Bengals' season.

Burfict, who earlier made what appeared to be a game-clinching interception, hit Brown with his shoulder after a pass intended for the receiver sailed incomplete over his head.

As Brown lay on the ground and officials were sorting out the penalty and trainers evaluated the receiver for a concussion, Bengals cornerback Jones raged against Porter.

Both Burfict and Jones were handed 15-yard penalties on the play, moving Pittsburgh into range for a game-winning field goal.

Pittsburgh offensive line coach Munchak was flagged in the first quarter for grabbing the jersey and some dreadlocks of safety Reggie Nelson who had shoved a Steelers player out of bounds.

Linebacker Burfict was sanctioned after being fined four times for safety violations last year, including a $50,000 penalty for unnecessarily contacting an opponent who was out of the play in their regular season finale against Baltimore.

(Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes in Los Angeles; Editing by Larry Fine)

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