NFL Week 13’s matchup between the New England Patriots and New York Giants turned into the kind of bruising, chippy game that usually leaves a trail of fines. Plenty of hits bordered on the edge; a few crossed it. One of the players who paid for it was Patriots veteran safety Jaylinn Hawkins.

Hawkins, in his sixth season and still without a previous fine to his name, won’t be able to say that anymore. The league docked him $9,944 for unnecessary roughness, the first fine of his career.

The play came early in the second quarter, an incompletion from the Giants’ QB Jaxson Dart to Theo Johnson. Craig Woodson had the coverage, Hawkins came in to finish the play, and he led with his helmet. It wasn’t malicious, but it was the kind of contact the league watches pretty closely.

It wasn’t his b

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