Like the 2-2 Green Bay Packers, star running back Josh Jacobs has experienced a rollercoaster start to the 2024 season.
After signing a four-year, $48 million contract in March to replace Aaron Jones, the two-time Pro Bowler has racked up 329 rushing yards and 52 receiving yards, but has yet to score in four games. Jacobs saw just 13 touches in Sunday's, 31-29, loss to the Minnesota Vikings, just two weeks after logging 32 rushes for 151 yards.
Over the weekend, Jacobs was fined $45,020 by the NFL for unnecessary roughness/use of helmet against Tennessee Titans defensive back Quandre Diggs in Week 3, as reported by NFL Network insider Tom Pelissero.
According to an update from Pelissero on Sunday, Jacobs is appealing the fine in an effort to fend off further punishment from the league.
"Josh Jacobs is appealing his $45,020 fine - his first since the NFL warned him and a short list of other players before the season that future safety violations could lead to a suspension," Pelissero wrote on X. "Jacobs was fined twice for use of helmet in 2023; one was rescinded and the other reduced."
Pelissero's post on X confirmed that Jacobs was among the players who received a warning from the NFL about safety violations entering the 2024 season, according to a Sept. 8 report from ESPN's Adam Schefter.
"The NFL recently sent a memo to more than 20 players and the teams that they play for, emphasizing the importance of safety and sportsmanship and warning them that they would face suspensions if there are any violations, league sources told ESPN," Schefter wrote.
Schefter also noted that, starting again in 2024, NFL teams are susceptible to fines for "players who are suspended for safety violations, personal conduct policy issues and drug suspensions," due to the reinstatement of the league's club remittance policy.
Jacobs, 26, was drafted in the first round in 2019 and has now been fined three times in his six-year career pending the current appeal. Both previous offenses came in 2023 with the Las Vegas Raiders when he was docked $21,855 in consecutive weeks for impermissible use of his helmet.
If the NFL upholds his fine, Jacobs' next infraction could result in a suspension, forcing him to miss one or multiple games for Green Bay.
