The NFL hit Packers running back Josh Jacobs hard for the hit he laid on a tackler Sunday against the Titans.
The league announced today that Jacobs has been fined $45,020 for what the league described as, “Unnecessary Roughness (use of the helmet).”
On the play in question, Jacobs took a handoff up the middle and lowered his head into Titans safety Quandre Diggs. In real time, it looked like an ordinary collision we see multiple times in every game. Diggs was none the worse for wear; he popped right up and helped Jacobs up. No flag was thrown and the TV announcers didn’t say anything about it.
But often plays that seem rather innocuous at the time result in harsh discipline once the league office has scrutinized the replays closely, and that’s what happened here. It’s true that Jacobs lowered his head and initiated contact with the crown of the helmet, and that’s the kind of hit that the NFL is trying to take out of the game of football. But Jacobs could be forgiven if he questions why he got such a significant fine for a hit that neither the officials nor anyone else had a problem with at the time.
