Los Angeles Chargers safety Derwin James was suspended one game without pay by the NFL on Monday for repeated violations of rules intended to protect players’ health and safety.

James has five unnecessary roughness penalties in his last 18 games, the most in the league by a defensive player. All five have involved blows to the head of an opponent with his shoulder or helmet.

Jon Runyan, the league’s vice president of football operations, cited the league’s ban on lowering the head and initiating contact with the helmet. Runyan pointed to James’ targeting of Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth during the third quarter of Sunday’s 20-10 loss at Pittsburgh as the last straw.

James lowered his head and hit Freiermuth, drawing a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty. James had an unobstructed path to Freiermuth and could have adjusted the way he delivered the hit.

“Your continued disregard for NFL playing rules will not be tolerated,” Runyan wrote in a letter to James. “Substantial penalties are warranted when players violate the rules intended to protect player safety on a repeated basis, particularly when the violations carry with them a significant risk of injury to an opposing player.”

GOOD NEWS ON DARNOLD >> Minnesota quarterback Sam Darnold has a bruised left knee from a late and low hit that sidelined him for one play, a relief to the undefeated Vikings after an MRI exam revealed no structure damage.

Darnold, who spent last season with the 49ers, was hurt when Houston defensive end Danielle Hunter took him to the turf after a completion late in the third quarter on Sunday during Minnesota’s 34-7 victory. Darnold, who is on a three-game winning streak for the first time as a starter since Carolina went 3-0 with him to begin the 2021 season, is not expected to miss any practice or game time.

With rookie J.J. McCarthy out for the year following surgery on his right knee to repair a torn meniscus, Nick Mullens is the primary backup to Darnold, who went 17 for 28 for 181 yards and four touchdowns against the Texans.