CINCINNATI – The NFL has suspended Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase for spitting on Pittsburgh Steelers safety Jalen Ramsey, an infraction Chase said he didn’t commit.
The incident came in the fourth quarter of the Bengals’ 34-12 loss Sunday at Acrisure Stadium and was the culmination of three consecutive plays in which Chase and Ramsey went after each other.
Both players were flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct on the play before the spitting incident, which came as Chase and Ramsey were face to face and was caught on camera by FOX19 videographer Austin Briski.
Field-level view of the second altercation between Ja’Marr Chase and Jalen Ramsey. Chase said “I didn’t spit on nobody.”
The video clearly shows he did.#Bengals @FOX19 pic.twitter.com/ooGzInoPdS
— Austin Briski (@austin_briski) November 16, 2025
Chase will appeal the fine, per a league source.
If Chase doesn’t win the appeal, he will serve the suspension Sunday against the 8-2 New England Patriots.
While the league didn’t also fine Chase, missing one game will cost him $448,333, which is 1/18th of his $8,070,000 base salary this season, plus another $58,823 for his per-game roster bonus.
Chase has been fined $91,080 in the past for four incidents:
$19,697 for an obscene gesture in the Week 5, 2024 game against the Ravens.
$31,599 for verbally abusing an official in the Week 2, 2023 game against the Chiefs.
$15,914 for taunting in the Week 17, 2021 game against the Chiefs.
$23,870 for multiple unsportsmanlike conduct infractions in the Week 1, 202 game against the Steelers.
Statement from the NFL on Ja’Marr Chase being suspended for one game: pic.twitter.com/YHUKSjRzAp
— Jay Morrison (@ByJayMorrison) November 17, 2025
This is the second time this season the league office has sanctioned a player for spitting on an opponent.
In the season-opening kickoff game, Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter spit on Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott.
Officials ejected Carter, and the league suspended him for one game.
However, because the incident occurred before the first scrimmage snap of the game, the league rescinded the suspension, saying it already had been served since Carter missed the entire game.
The league fined him $57,222.
It had been nearly 20 years since a player was disciplined for a spitting incident.
Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Terrell Owens spit on Atlanta Falcons cornerback DeAngelo Hall and was fined $35,000 but not suspended.
The league said it didn’t suspend Owens because the officials didn’t see it happen.
Notably, referee Bill Vinovich said in the pool report that no one on his crew saw Chase spit on Ramsey either.
“Obviously, we did not (see spitting),” Vinovich said. “We did not see anything that rose to that level at all.”
In January 2006, during the 2005 playoffs, Washington Redskins safety Sean Taylor was ejected from a Wild-Card playoff game for spitting on Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Michael Pittman.
The league fined Taylor 17,000 but did not suspend him. He played the following week in his team’s loss to the Seattle Seahawks in the Division Round.
In 1997, Denver Broncos linebacker Bill Romanowski was fined $7,500 for spitting on San Francisco 49ers wide receiver J.J. Stokes.
The league fined Romanowski $7,500 but did not suspend him.
Chase is the first Bengals player to be suspended by the league since cornerback Pacman Jones, who received a one-game suspension for violating the league’s personal conduct code following an arrest at a downtown hotel.
The last Bengals player suspended for an on-field incident was linebacker Vontaze Burfict, who received a three-game suspension the day after the team’s 18-16 Wild-Card loss to the Steelers.
The league cited repeated violations of the player-safety rules after Burfict’s helmet-to-helmet hit against Antonio Brown left the receiver concussed and unavailable for Pittsburgh Division Round game at Denver the following week.
In 2013, linebacker DeQuin Evans was suspended eight games – his second suspension in 22 months – for violating the league’s policy on performance enhancing drugs. He served a four-game ban in 2011 for PEDs while on the practice squad.
In 2007, Bengals wide receiver Chris Henry was suspended for the first eight games for violating the league’s personal conduct policy and engaging in the conduct detrimental to the league on numerous occasions.
That announcement coincided with one suspending Jones, then with the Tennessee Titans, for the entire 2007 season for the same reasons.
In July 2006, the league suspended linebacker Odell Thurman for four games following a drunk-driving arrest. The league extended the suspension for the entire season after another violation. And it extended the suspension again to include the entire 2008 season after another failed drug test.
