Like the 2-2 Green Bay Packers, star running back has had a rocky start to the 2024 season. After signing a four-year, $48 million contract in March to replace Aaron Jones, the two-time Pro Bowler has 329 running yards and 52 receiving yards, but has yet to score in four games. Jacobs received only 13 touches in Sunday’s 31-29 loss to the Minnesota Vikings, only two weeks after rushing 32 times for 151 yards. The NFL penalised Jacobs $45,020 over the weekend for unnecessary roughness/use of a helmet against Tennessee Titans defensive back Quandre Diggs in Week 3, according to NFL Network insider Tom Pelissero.
According to an update from Pelissero on Sunday, Jacobs is appealing the sanction in an attempt to avoid additional discipline from the league.
“Josh Jacobs is appealing his $45,020 fine – his first since the NFL warned him and a short list of other players before the season that future safety violations could lead to a suspension,” Pelissero told X. “Jacobs was fined twice for use of helmet in 2023; one was rescinded and the other reduced.”
Josh Jacobs is appealing his $45,020 fine — his first since the NFL warned him and a short list of other players before the season that future safety violations could lead to a suspension.
Jacobs was fined twice for use of helmet in 2023; one was rescinded and the other reduced. https://t.co/L1RZ5V4BYK
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) September 29, 2024
Pelissero’s post on X revealed that Jacobs was one among the players warned by the NFL about safety breaches before the 2024 season, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. “The NFL recently sent a memo to more than 20 players and the teams that they play for, emphasising the importance of safety and sportsmanship and warning them that they would face suspensions if there are any violations, league sources told ESPN,” according to Schefter. Schefter also stated that, beginning in 2024, NFL teams will be subject to fines for “players who are suspended for safety violations, personal conduct policy issues, and drug suspensions,” due to the return of the league’s club remittance policy.
Jacobs, 26, was draughted in the first round in 2019 and has been punished three times in his six-year career, including the current appeal. Both previous offences occurred in 2023 with the Las Vegas Raiders, when he was fined $21,855 in consecutive weeks for improper use of his helmet. If the NFL upholds his fine, Jacobs’ next offence may result in a suspension, causing him to miss one or more games for Green Bay.
