LOS ANGELES — The game had been over for several minutes when Alaric Jackson, pads already off, walked back onto the field to trade jerseys with Bills defender Deone Walker, and by the time teammates pulled him away he had thrown the punch that will cost the Rams their starting left tackle for two games.
The Bills had just won 37-34 in overtime at SoFi Stadium on Monday night, and Mike Florio of NBC Sports wrote that the game had been over for several minutes. According to CBS Sports, Bills linebacker Bradley Chubb was talking trash to Jackson during the swap; Jackson walked over, got in his face, and swung. Chubb did not hit back. “They always catch the second guy, so I let him swing and my teammates held me back, so I just chilled,” he said.
On Tuesday the NFL suspended Jackson two games, citing a rule covering “any act which is contrary to the generally understood principles of sportsmanship.” He will miss Week 6 against the Cardinals and Week 7 against the Raiders and, unless an appeal succeeds, is eligible to return October 26, with his first game back on November 1 against the Chargers.
The video complicates the picture without excusing it. CBS Sports noted that Chubb put a hand in Jackson’s face just before the punch. Rams coach Sean McVay said he was “not condoning” what happened but wanted “to understand the totality of the situation,” and that he does not know what Chubb said first, NBC Sports reported. He expects Jackson to appeal and said Jackson “has to consistently do a better job.” It also “doesn’t help us,” McVay said, to lose a player of that caliber.
The replacement is David Quessenberry, 36, who has played 128 offensive snaps over the past two seasons and has not started since 2023, according to Sky Sports.
The length is the detail worth noticing. Last October, Lions safety Brian Branch received a one-game suspension for starting a postgame brawl after a loss to the Chiefs, CBS Sports noted. The 49ers’ Dre Greenlaw drew one game this week for headbutting the Seahawks’ Ernest Jones IV after a late hit, Sky Sports reported. Jackson’s two games are the longest of the three, and the league’s statement, as quoted, says nothing about why. CBS Sports also noted that Jackson was suspended two games in 2024 for violating the personal conduct policy.
What neither the league nor Jackson’s coach has explained is what Chubb said to him first.
