Report: Rams' Nacua fined $25K for comments on officiating

The NFL fined Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua $25,000 for his comments about officiating, a source told NFL Network's Mike Garafolo on Friday.

Nacua criticized NFL officials earlier this week while appearing on a livestream with streamers N3on and Adin Ross.

"The refs are the worst," Nacua said. "These guys are lawyers. They want to be on TV too. You don't think he's texting his friends in the group chat like, 'Yo, you guys just saw me on Sunday Night Football. That wasn't P.I. (pass interference), but I called it.'"

Nacua also publicly apologized before Thursday's game for performing a gesture that was "antisemitic in nature" on the livestream. The NFL subsequently issued a statement condemning antisemitism that didn't name him specifically.

The Rams receiver continued to slam referees after Thursday night's overtime loss to the Seattle Seahawks. Nacua, who had a career-high 225 receiving yards on 12 catches, posted and subsequently deleted a tweet that appeared to address the officiating in the game minutes after the contest ended.

The receiver explained the deleted post to reporters in the locker room.

"It was just a lack of awareness," Nacua told a group of media members, including Arash Markazi of the Sporting Tribune. "Just frustration."

While it's unclear if Nacua was upset about a specific call, there were a number of controversial rulings - including an offensive penalty against the Rams on the 1-yard line that took a touchdown off the board.

However, the call that garnered the majority of the attention involved a review that ended up supplying the points to send the contest to overtime.

The Seahawks' 16-point fourth-quarter comeback looked to be two points short after a conversion attempt appeared to be an incomplete pass. The teams were lining up for the ensuing kickoff when the officiating crew announced a review. That review eventually determined the pass went backward, making it a live ball that was recovered in the end zone by the Seahawks.

That made the try successful and tied the game. Nacua scored in overtime to give the Rams the lead, but the Seahawks drove the length of the field for a matching touchdown before winning on another two-point conversion.

Head coach Sean McVay admitted he'd never experienced a similar play.

"I've never quite seen anything like what happened on the 2-point conversion where you are lined up to kick off, then they say it's a fumble because they had a clear and obvious recovery," McVay told reporters afterward. "Very interesting, didn't get a clear explanation of everything that went on just because of some of the timing of it. ... I've never seen anything - or never been a part of anything - like that, and I've grown up around this game."

McVay was also asked about Nacua's deleted post, but did not want to offer an opinion since he had yet to see it for himself. However, the veteran coach did voice his support for the receiver.