Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs will remain on the NFL commissioner’s exempt list even after he reached a plea agreement on Thursday. This means he is still barred from practicing or playing for the team.
Josh Jacobs was arrested on May 26 and booked into Brown County Jail on five charges: strangulation and suffocation (a felony), battery/domestic abuse, criminal damage to property/domestic abuse, disorderly conduct/domestic abuse, and intimidation of a victim. According to the prosecution, Jacobs got into a violent altercation with his girlfriend on May 23 at his home in Wisconsin after he was accused of “talking to other girls.”
The Packers running back entered no contest pleas to one misdemeanor count of battery and one misdemeanor count of criminal damage to property when he appeared in court in Brown County on Thursday. He was ordered to pay a $1,000 fine plus court costs.
Following the pleas, according to The Athletic, Josh Jacobs made a statement to the court. In it, he said, “I fully understand the seriousness of the situation, and I take full responsibility.” His attorney had previously stated that Jacobs “vehemently denies the allegations.”
Jacobs agreed to pay restitution, undergo treatment, and avoid the alleged victim as part of his deal with the prosecution. The criminal charge for property damage will be put on hold by the court for a full year before being dropped once the conditions of the plea deal have been fulfilled.
Josh Jacobs’ attorney made a statement about the plea deal
“Josh Jacobs today agreed to enter a plea of guilty or no contest to one count of Misdemeanor Criminal Damage to Property and one count of Misdemeanor Battery in Brown County Circuit Court,” Jacobs’ attorneys said in a statement.
“The State recommended and the Judge issued a fine of $1,000 plus costs as sentence for the Battery Count. Under the terms of the agreement, the Court will suspend the proceeding on the Criminal Damage to Property Count for 12 months, at which time it will be dismissed upon completion of the terms of the agreement.
“With this agreement, Josh has accepted responsibility for his conduct and resolved this matter. Today’s resolution is set against a career long history of Josh’s community work while in the NFL, which has centered on the circumstances of his early life.”
Jacobs has been on the NFL commissioner’s exempt list since Aug. 30. After his plea deal, Matt Schneidman reported that the NFL made a statement. In it, the league wrote, “We have been closely monitoring all developments in the matter which remains under review of the personal conduct policy. There is no change to his status as he remains on the Commissioner’s Exempt list.”
Matt LaFleur, his coach with the Green Bay Packers, received backlash in June during the team’s OTAs for stating it was “business as usual” with Josh Jacobs in camp so shortly after his arrest.