ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Broncos safety Kareem Jackson has been suspended four games without pay by the NFL for his latest unnecessary roughness blow, this one Sunday to Green Bay Packers tight end Luke Musgrave in a game at Empower Field at Mile High.
In a league press release first received by 9NEWS, NFL vice president of Jon Runyan said in a letter to Jackson:
“On the play in question, you delivered a forceful blow to the head/neck area of a defenseless receiver, when you had the time and space to avoid such contact. You could have made contact with your opponent within the rules, yet you chose not to.”
Runyan added Jackson has had multiple offenses for personal fouls this season for violating player safety-related rules, including a similarly flagrant hit in a Week 2 game against Washington for which he was disqualified.
The blow against Musgrave -- delivered with a shoulder but to Musgrave's chin so that his head whiplashed backward -- was Jackson's fifth such unnecessary roughness penalty and second ejection in just seven games this season.
“Kareem’s hit —I’ve sat on the (NFL) Competition Committee for a number of years -- we’re constantly trying to work with and educate the players,'' Broncos head coach Sean Payton said Monday. "There are times when pad levels drop. I know Kareem, I know his heart and I know the way he’s played. I think it’s an easy narrative to say, ‘Well he’s just an old-timer playing in a new-timer’s game.’
“When you see the play, his head is removed from the forceable contact. Defenseless is a little bit more of an issue relative to the position the receiver’s in. I just know where he’s at as a player. We’ll keep working on that. I know he’ll keep working on it. He’s someone that’s smart and really wants to do the right thing. It’s one of the toughest parts of our game for the officials, for the players, for all of us involved of getting that to where it’s clear and easy. Sometimes, it’s just not.”
Jackson was previously fined four times for a total of $89,670. Three of those fines were partially reduced through appeal -- his game 1 hit against the Raiders' Jakobi Meyers, his game 2 hit against Washington tight end Logan Thomas and his game 3 low block on a Miami downfield blocker -- and he figures to appeal his $43,709 fine he received for his helmet-to-helmet contact agaisnt Chiefs' running back Isiah Pacheco two weeks ago.
His four-game suspension will cost him $558,833 in game checks -- four games out of an 18-week season. In all, Jackson was slapped with $648,503 in penalties.
The Jackson tally:
*Week 1: $14,819, hit on Raiders' Jakobi Meyers
*Week 2: $19,669, hit on Washingtion's Logan Thomas
*Week 3: $11,473, low hit on a Miami blocker
*Week 6: $43,709, hit on KC's Isiah Pacheco
*Week 7: 4-game suspension, $558,833 in game checks, hit on Green Bay's Luke Musgrave.
Jackson is expected to appeal his four-game suspension, which now sidelines him for the Broncos upcoming games against the Chiefs this Sunday, followed by games after the bye against Buffalo, Minnesota and Cleveland. He can return for the Broncos' game Dec. 3 at Houston.
Either Derrick Brooks or James Thrash from the NFL office will hear Jackson's appeal.
With Jackson out, P.J. Locke and Dellarin Turner-Yell will step up and play more safety opposite Justin Simmons.
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