VIKINGS HEAD COACH HAS SUSPENDED A STAR PLAYER FOR.
NFL suspends Kareem Jackson of the Broncos for four games for hitting Vikings quarterback Joshua Dobbs.
Kareem Jackson, a safety for the Denver Broncos, was given a four-game, non-pay suspension by the NFL on Monday for persistently breaking the rules set forth to protect players.
Jackson’s hit on Minnesota Vikings quarterback Joshua Dobbs on Sunday night, in his first game back after serving a first-time suspension for illegally hitting Packers tight end Luke Musgrave on October 22, was the reason for his most recent expulsion.
It didn’t take long for the 14-year veteran to demonstrate that he couldn’t promise he wouldn’t find himself in the NFL’s crosshairs once more for his excessively aggressive play after he returned from suspension last week.
On the third snap of the game, Jackson led on a Dobbs third-and-one run by jarring the ball loose with the crown of his helmet. Nickel cornerback Ja’Quan McMillian pounced on the loose ball at the Vikings 30-yard line without a flag being raised. Dobbs headed straight for the medical tent, but he quickly returned without missing a shot.
“It appeared to be a fairly straightforward hit from helmet to helmet,” Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell remarked following the team’s 21-20 defeat. “This is the rule as it is. The flag was not thrown by them. Out there, things happened quickly. We’ll need to investigate it.”
Jackson also paid $279,000. The NFL, which has already fined him $89,670 for four illegal hits, suspended him for two games.
Jackson will lose out on $558,000 in pay as a result of his most recent suspension.
Terry McAulay, an NBC rules analyst and former NFL official, suggested on the show that Jackson’s hit ought to have resulted in a 15-yard penalty, keeping Minnesota in possession.
“He lowers his head and makes forcible contact to the opponent,” said McAulay. “Look, he has his head lowered. The play should have been penalized 15 yards for needless roughness.
On appeal, Jackson’s initial banishment was reduced to two games. It’s probably going to be harder for him to get this second suspension lowered in a similar manner.
The most recent suspension was handed out by NFL Vice President of Football Operations Jon Runyan due to a player’s infraction of the league’s policy that forbids them from lowering their heads and making forceful contact with the helmet.
“You were involved in a play that the league considers a serious violation of the playing rules” for lowering his head to hit Dobbs, Runyan wrote in a letter informing Jackson of his most recent suspension.The unlawful contact could have been prevented, and you had an open route to your opponent.”
“Illegal acts that are flagrant and jeopardize the safety of players will not be tolerated,” Runyan said.
The league will keep emphasizing the need to follow the regulations, which forbid using your helmet to make physical contact with an opponent.
“During the play in question, you had the opportunity and space to avoid making contact with your opponent when you lowered your head and struck them hard in the shoulder, head, and neck area. You had the option to communicate with your opponent in accordance with the rules, but you decided not to.
