This might be the only time you ever see this in an NFL game.
Two players were ejected on the opening kickoff of the Jacksonville Jaguars‘ Week 5 game on Sunday in London: Jeremiah Trotter Jr. of the Philadelphia Eagles, and the Jags’ Bryan Thomas Jr.
There are multiple things to clear up about what happened.
Why Were Players Ejected?
The dispute seemed to happen away from the football.
The opening kickoff actually featured a touchdown return for Josh Cameron, but it didn’t count due to a holding call on Jacksonville.
It was back near midfield where the clash happened between the defensive players.
The NFL Network broadcasters suggested that Trotter may have thrown Thomas to the ground, but the cameras didn’t have a great view of it, because the cameras were following the kick return, which makes sense.
If closed-hand punches are thrown, that’s one way a player can be ejected, so that’s a likely theory.
Who is Bryan Thomas Jr?
Maybe the most confusing part of this for the Jaguars is that it wasn’t their wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. who was ejected.
Instead, it was a reserve defensive lineman, Bryan Thomas Jr., who was ejected.
This Thomas was on the kickoff return team as a blocker. He doesn’t play a lot on defense.
He just ironically has almost the same name as the Jaguars’ star wideout.
How Ejections Work in NFL
A player that is ejected has to miss the rest of the game, so that’ll be the case for Jeremiah Trotter and Bryan Thomas Jr. on Sunday.
The Eagles actually lost a player almost this early in a 2025 game when Jalen Carter was ejected before a defensive snap had been played.
Trotter is quite important to Philly, too, so it’s a bad habit to have gotten into.
The NFL will diagnose what happened to determine if further suspensions are needed, but given that these players will miss almost an entire game already, that will factor into the decisions about what happens next.
Why Jaguars’ Bryan Thomas Jr., Eagles’ Jeremiah Trotter Were Ejected