NFL smacks Houston Texans head coach Lovie Smith with a $50K fine for conducting prohibited drills

The new Houston Texans head coach is the fourth coaching staff leader to receive a penalty from the league due to not properly following practice guidelines during recent minicamps throughout the NFL.

In the same report on Smith, Graziano revealed that Washington Commanders HC Ron Rivera was fined double the amount of Smith “due to excessive contact in practice drills.” He also claimed the franchise will lose two 2023 OTA practices due to the infraction.

Earlier in the day, it was announced that the Dallas Cowboys and head ball coach Mike McCarthy were punished for practices that were “too physical” at minicamp. The organization will be docked a 2023 offseason practice and McCarthy also received a $100,000 fine.

New Bears head coach Matt Eberflus was informed last week that the team will lose a future practice after having prohibited live contact drills at May voluntary camps.

In 2019, the league banned teams from using the common drills known as Oklahoma, King of the Circle/Bull in the Ring, and Half Line during training camps in the hopes of lessening the chance of head injuries in NFL practices.