![\"Caleb](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/GettyImages-2252916903-1.jpg\")
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The NFL is punishing a San Francisco 49s player just hours before they take on the Chicago Bears in Week 17.<\/p>\n
Ben Johnson and the Chicago Bears<\/a> are riding high on their 11-4 record and are at the top of the NFC<\/a> and NFC North standings, and now, they\u2019ll face a worthy opponent<\/a> in the San Francisco 49ers<\/a> on Sunday, December 28. Going into the game, the 49ers also have an 11-4 record<\/a>, and they\u2019re just one game behind the Seattle Seahawks<\/a> in the NFC West.<\/p>\n So, even though both the Bears and 49ers are already in the playoffs, this game will still bring excitement. For one, seeing Williams and 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy<\/a> in the same game will be fun, since both are among the best quarterbacks in the NFL<\/a>. But, most importantly for the Bears, a win would give Chicago the NFC North division title and keep them well in the hunt for the NFC\u2019s No. 1 seed, along with its first-round bye and home-field advantage, according to NFL research<\/a>.<\/p>\n Now, ahead of the game, the NFL has announced a punishment for one San Francisco 49ers player. The punishment comes in the league\u2019s weekly accountability report.<\/p>\n San Francisco 49ers Player in Hot Water Before Chicago Bears Game<\/p>\n Each week during the season, the NFL gives punishments to players for actions taken during the previous week\u2019s games. The NFL states on their official website<\/a> that these actions are \u201cto protect players from unnecessary risk and preserve competitive balance and game integrity.\u201d Also, ahead of the season, the NFL and NFL Players Association agree on the set of game-related rules violations that result in these accountability measures.<\/p>\n On Saturday, December 27, the NFL announced that it\u2019s punishing 49ers cornerback Deommodore Lenoir<\/a> for his actions during the team\u2019s Week 16 game. The league is fining him $11,593 for a late hit and \u201cunnecessary roughness\u201d at the 10:53 mark in the third quarter of the Colts<\/a> game on Sunday, December 22.<\/p>\n The funds raised from those fines will go to the Professional Athletes Foundation<\/a> to \u201csupport legends in need and the NFL Foundation<\/a> to further support the health, safety and wellness of athletes across all levels, including youth football and the communities that support the game.\u201d<\/p>\n Chicago Bears Head Coach Ben Johnson Says Caleb Williams is Treated Equally<\/p>\n On Friday, December 26, Johnson talked about<\/a> the team\u2019s 49ers showdown. He also spoke about his relationship with Williams.\u00a0\u201cI treat Caleb like I do the rest of these guys,\u201d he said. \u201cI love all these guys, and it comes from a good place. I just want them to become the best player that they can be.\u201d<\/p>\n After the team\u2019s win over the Packers<\/a> on Saturday, December 20, Johnson also sang the praises of the entire team. \u201cLet me tell you something right now, this is a special group,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cThis doesn\u2019t happen everywhere, gentlemen. Where we are right now, what you guys are doing, it\u2019s no fluke. You are mentally tough, you are physically tough, and you fight all 60 minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n Looking at the NFL division standings<\/a> in Week 17, the Chicago Bears are in a comfortable spot to win the NFC North and even earn the top seed in the NFC, but they need to keep winning to do it.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tAnne Erickson<\/a> is an award-winning reporter for Heavy Sports covering the NFL, NBA and college football. Anne Erickson has years of experience covering the NFL and additional sports, and her work has been published via ESPN, Fox Sports and more. She has interviewed some of the biggest names in sports, including Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff. Erickson also hosts several podcasts and is a Detroit-based radio host. More about Anne Erickson<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Bears\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty The NFL is punishing a San Francisco 49s player just hours before they take on the Chicago…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":376131,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[559],"tags":[64,63,593,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-376130","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-nfl","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376130","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=376130"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376130\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/376131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=376130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=376130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=376130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}