Denver Broncos safety Kareem Jackson has been suspended 4 games by the NFL after he was penalized and ejected for a head-to-head hit against the Green Bay Packers in Week 7.
He is appealing the suspension, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.
Kareem Jackson is appealing, source said. https://t.co/cE8B0z9tBP
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 23, 2023
The NFL also considered suspending Jackson after he was ejected in Week 2, but the veteran safety ended up only being fined that week.
Broncos coach Sean Payton has defended his player for the hit.
“I think it’s difficult sometimes — the officials are trying to make these calls,” Payton said after Sunday’s game. “Sometimes it’s a little bit easier to see in replay. I think one of the challenges for Kareem is he has some priors.
“When you get pulled over, and you’ve had four or five speeding violations, you’re going to spend a little bit more time on the side of the road [than] if you didn’t have any. I think that I wasn’t surprised. I haven’t seen a really clean shot of it, but we just have to keep finding ways to keep the head out of the main part of the hit. He’s smart. He’s someone that wants to do the right thing, so we’ll work on that.”
Here’s the hit in question on Packers tight end Luke Musgrave.
Kareem Jackson has been suspended 4 games following this hit he had on Packers TE Luke Musgrave.pic.twitter.com/obnaQVuarS
— The Sporting News (@sportingnews) October 23, 2023
Jackson is a repeat offender. He has been ejected twice this season and before Sunday’s game, he had already been fined four times for $89,670. Jackson will undoubtedly face another fine this week following his latest penalty.