Hicks gets shove pass, will not be suspended
Defensive end Akiem Hicks will not be suspended for the Bears’ game against the Dolphins on Oct. 14, sources said Wednesday, after being ejected Sunday for pushing an official.
Hicks still figures to be fined. The league’s rule structure dictates a $33,425 fine for first-time offenders.
Referee Jerome Boger told a pool reporter Sunday that Hicks was tossed for pushing Mike Carr, the down judge who was trying to separate Hicks and Buccaneers guard Ali Marpet in the aftermath of Eddie Jackson’s interception.
Hicks eventually was told to leave the bench. Upon departing, he threw his jersey and pads into the Soldier Field crowd.
“[Carr] had the player separated and the situation was resolved,” Boger said. “And then here the defender comes back to restart or instigate it all over again . . . . It was just a deliberate act when he knew the official was there in between.”
Hicks has been one of the Bears’ defensive stars through four games, totaling three sacks.
On Monday, defensive line coach Jay Rodgers praised Hicks’ competitiveness.
“He wants to be out there with his teammates,” he said. “You can understand his frustration in wanting to be out there to play with the guys he’s been practicing with all week . . . . That’s the way I felt on the sideline — here’s a guy that wanted to compete and be out there with his teammates.”
The Bears have a bye this week.
Goff edges Trubisky
The best game of Mitch Trubisky’s life wasn’t tops in his own conference last week.
Rams quarterback Jared Goff was named the NFC Offensive Player of the Week after he torched the Vikings on “Thursday Night Football,” completing 26 of 33 passes for 465 yards and five touchdowns.
That was enough to edge out Trubisky, who went 19-for-26 for 354 yards and six touchdowns in the Bears’ 48-10 rout of the Bucs.
Every top-12 quarterback drafted in 2016 and 2017 except for Trubisky has been named player of the week. Two draftees from 2017 — the Texans’ Deshaun Watson and the Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes — have won the honor. Watson won it once last year and Mahomes twice this season.
The top two picks from 2016 — Goff and the Eagles’ Carson Wentz — each received the honor last year.