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Kareem Jackson (#22) of the Denver Broncos was ejected from the game for this hit on Luke Musgrave.
CNN –
Denver Broncos’ Kareem Jackson has been suspended four games by the NFL after he was accused of multiple unnecessary roughness violations, most recently in the Broncos’ Week 7 win over the Green Bay Packers.
Jackson was ejected from Sunday’s game after making an illegal hit on Packers tight end Luke Musgrave.
According to NFL rules, it is a “foul if a player forcibly strikes the head or neck area of the defenseless player with the helmet, face mask, forearm or shoulder.”
Musgrave was considered “defenseless” for a time. Play in the fourth quarter In Sunday’s game, he came to the ground with the ball after a catch before immediately spinning into the path of Jackson, who lowered his helmet and threw a heavy hit.
This was Jackson’s second ejection of the season – an end zone hit on Washington Commanders tight end Logan Thomas in Week 2 also resulted in him being disqualified from the game. The commanders later confirmed that Thomas had been ruled out of the game due to a concussion resulting from the collision.
Jackson, 35, was fined a total of $89,670 by the league four separate roughness violations before the incident on Sunday.
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Jackson, a 13-year NFL veteran, has been flagged for dangerous tackles several times this year.
The NFL released a statement officially suspending Jackson for four games. NFL vice president of football operations Jon Runyan, who issued the suspension, wrote a letter to Denver security.
“On the play in question, you delivered a forceful blow to the head/neck area of a defenseless receiver despite having time and space to avoid such contact,” Runyan wrote. “You could have made contact with your opponent within the rules, but you chose not to.”
Runyan also pointed out that Jackson’s previous violations – personal fouls this season in violation of player safety rules – were a factor in his suspension.
Although officials have shown little tolerance for Jackson’s actions, some have defended him and believe the four-game suspension is too harsh, including five-time All-Pro cornerback Richard Sherman.
“This is slowly getting out of control! “It’s a clean hit and apparently he even tries to turn his body at the end to make sure it’s a shoulder hit.” Sherman posted on Xformerly known as Twitter.
“The body is led by your head, so no matter what it looks like, it leads with its head, but STOP this narrative that these are somehow ‘dirty’ hits.”
Jackson is eligible to appeal the suspension under the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement, but will miss his team’s next four games against the Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo Bills, Minnesota Vikings and Cleveland Browns if the collective bargaining agreement is upheld.