The Green Bay Packers just got Josh Jacobs back into the building on Monday, and the running back took a bold stance against the league’s decision to sideline him for six weeks after he pleaded no contest to two charges related to a domestic incident in May.
The NFL has not handed down a suspension yet, though one is likely coming that will include time served. That time for Jacobs spanned six weeks on the Commissioner’s Exempt List to begin the season, which is the equivalent of paid leave, while the league conducted its own investigation.
Jacobs spoke publicly with reporters. not through his attorneys, for the first time in months on Wednesday, October 21.
“I think 6 games is a lot, honestly. But that’s not really up to me to decide. I’m grateful to be playing, so that’s not something I’m really arguing or petitioning.”
“I think six games is a lot, honestly. But that’s not really up to me to decide,” Jacobs said, per Ryan Wood of USA Today. “I’m grateful to be playing, so that’s not something I’m really arguing or petitioning.”
Packers RB Josh Jacobs ‘Not Trying to Win Anybody Back’ After Legal Issues
Jacobs’ attorneys wrote that their client had taken responsibility for his actions involving his former girlfriend by pleading no contest to one misdemeanor charge of battery and another of criminal damage to property — also accepting the court’s assigned punishment for those crimes, which did not include jail time.
On Wednesday, the running back was defiant in response to how public opinion about him might have changed after expressing his belief that the league came down to hard on him given the circumstances.
“I’m not trying to win nobody back.”
“Me personally, I’m not trying to win nobody back. And that’s just me being all the way honest,” Jacobs continued. “Because at the end of the day, like I said, I know what happened. And if you feel some type of way, obviously I feel bad because it’s still — a situation occurred and it should have never even happened. … But all I can do is keep showing up and being who I am. Being, you know, a leader for this team. Being a leader in this community. And that’s really all I can control.”
Josh Jacobs Saga Won’t End Until Final Legal Decision Made on Video Footage of Night in Question
As Jacobs points out, he knows what happened. The NFL, however, literally does not yet have the whole picture.
The last bit of this saga that must play out involves video footage of at least part of Jacobs’ interaction with the victim in his case on the night in question. That was evidence in the case, but the victim requested it be sealed away from public consumption permanently.
Meanwhile, the league is interested in viewing it before handing down its final rendering of a punishment for Jacobs. More problems could come the NFL’s way depending on how ugly/damning the footage is and if it becomes public via FOIA requests from media outlets that would subsequently publish it.
The judge denied the victim’s request, referring the matter and custody of the video back into the hands of the investigating police department. The NFL continued its pursuit of the video, after which both Jacobs and the victim filed lawsuits to stop the league from gaining access.
This process will play out over the coming weeks, but eventually the league will either view the tape and act accordingly, or the department will permanently seal the footage and end the matter. In either case, that is when the NFL will issue its official suspension for Jacobs.
If that punishment is six games or less, he will miss no extra time and will simply have to pay the Packers back for the six game checks he received while on the Commissioner’s Exempt List. If the suspension is for more than six games, Jacobs will still have to pay the money back and then also sit out the balance of the suspension.
Packers’ Josh Jacobs Sounds Off on NFL Punishment After Return