đ„ Roschon Johnsonâs fine for unnecessary roughness adds to his quiet 2025 season with the Bears.
Roschon Johnsonâs name showed up on the NFLâs âGame Accountabilityâ report this week after the Chicago Bears Week 4 win over the Raiders.
The Bears running back was fined $6,790 for unnecessary roughnessâuse of the helmet with 11:38 to go in the fourth quarter of Chicagoâs 25â24 win. Johnson wasnât flagged for the play during the game.
The fine is part of the NFLâs broader emphasis on player safety violations that the league publicly tracks and disciplines every week.
Johnson was playing on special teams on the play in which the fine occurred. He has yet to play a snap for the Bears on offense this season, although he has been available for 62% of the teamâs special teams snaps through four games.
Roschon Johnsonâs Fine From NFL Comes at a Period of Transition for RB
GettyBears running back Roschon Johnson was fined for unnecessary roughness by the NFL Week 4.
Johnsonâs 2025 season has been extremely quiet thus far. A foot injury delayed his debut until Week 2, and he has functioned solely as depth and special-teams help behind DâAndre Swift and seventh-round rookie Kyle Monangai in the games since.
His first two years in Chicago were a mixed bag. As a rookie in 2023, Johnson was a rotational piece on offense, finishing with 81 carries for 352 yards (4.4 yards per carry) and two TDs. He also hauled in 34 catches for 209 yards. He wasnât a high-volume feature back by any means, but he consistently moved piles and protected the ball (he had one fumble that year).
In 2024, his role shifted. With Swift signed to lead the RBs room, Johnson became more of a short-yardage/goal-line hammer. He averaged only 2.7 yards per carry last season, but still punched in six rushing touchdowns on 55 attempts.
With first-year head coach Ben Johnson taking over the team this offseason, itâs fair to wonder if Johnson is going to find a role on offense at all.
Roschon, really looking forward to him playing a physical brand of football that we know he has,â Bears general manager Ryan Poles said bout Johnson on a May 2025 episode of ESPN 1000s âKap & J. Hoodâ (h/t Gene Chamberlain of Sports Illustrated). âI think kind of that role was a little bit out of whack last year. I think heâs going to have more of a physical role for us.â
So far, five weeks in, that has yet to happen.
Bearsâ Run Game Has Been Struggling Mightily in 2025
So far in 2025, the Bears arenât running the ball well at all. Through the first four weeks, Chicagoâs ground game has been inefficient, ranking near the bottom in several metrics despite flashes up front.
Now in their bye week, the Bears are averaging 3.8 yards per carry (25th) and their 0.16 EPA per rush is ranked 28th). When you strip out quarterback runs courtesy of Caleb Williams, the offense rates bottom-five in rushing success rate.
Could a locked-in version of Johnson still help? Itâs clear Ben Johnson doesnât seem to like his fit in the run game, at least not yet. The Bears will surely be working on ways to improve their ground game during the bye, and itâll be interesting to see if they lean more on Roschon in the coming weeks.
Eagles' defensive coordinator Vic Fangio clears the air on Cooper DeJean and his official role with Philly
The Eagles did cross-train DeJean on the outside during training camp, but he's way too good on the inside to really consider moving.
For instance, in the Eaglesâ 24-20 win over the Cowboys, DeJean shut down Dallas' receivers. He was targeted three times, allowed zero catches, forced one incompletion, and held Dak Prescott to a 42.4 passer rating when targeted.
DeJean, the Eagles' 2024 second-round draft pick out of Iowa, didn't hesitate to make an impact as a rookie as replace Avonte Maddox after Week 5 last fall.
He racked up 51 tackles, including three tackles for loss, half a sack, six passes defended, three fumble recoveries, and one forced fumble. He also had one interception returned for a touchdown in Super Bowl LIX. His overall performance was good enough to land him as a finalist for Defensive Rookie of the Year.
Looking ahead to Sundayâs matchup against the Chiefs, the Eagles plan to start Jackson on the outside to get a better look at him. But if they find themselves trailing, donât be surprised to see DeJean move around the field.
