CHICAGO _ Bears defensive lineman Akiem Hicks was ejected for pushing a game official in the second quarter of the Bears' 48-10 win over the Buccaneers on Sunday.
Hicks will be subject to a minimum $33,425 fine by the NFL and a possible suspension pending the league's review of the altercation.
Additional league discipline could result from Hicks' subsequent outburst as he left the field. He pulled off his jersey and shoulder pads and threw them into the stands near the tunnel to the Bears' locker room.
Hicks did not stay in the locker room to speak to reporters after the game.
Referee Jerome Boger said the incident followed a scuffle between Hicks and a Buccaneers player following Bears safety Eddie Jackson's interception on third-and-19.
"The official _ the down judge _ was breaking up a skirmish between two opposing players, and after he got the players separated, No. 96 came back and charged through him and pushed him."
Hicks was ejected when the officials ruled his push to be a separate and deliberate act from his altercation with the unidentified Bucs player.
Hicks stayed on the Bears bench for several plays into the next series instead of leaving the field. Game officials alerted the Bears that he had to leave the field once they became aware Hicks had not.
He would not have been subject to a game penalty for throwing his equipment into the stands because that occurred in the team area on the sideline, Boger said.
"It's an emotional game, and he knows that he can't do that," Bears coach Matt Nagy said. "We've got to handle it."
