Suspension of Kareem Jackson leaves Broncos defenders with nothing but questions

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — There was a phrase in the NFL’s initial statement regarding the suspension of Kareem Jackson that yields a great many questions for the league’s defensive players to ponder.

“You delivered a forceful blow to the head/neck area of a defenseless receiver, when you had the time and space to avoid such contact,” the NFL’s vice president of football operations, Jon Runyan, asserted in the statement.

“The time and space to avoid such contact.” That’s the the sort of phrase that rankles within the Broncos’ locker room in the wake of Kareem Jackson’s suspension — a four-game punishment whittled down to two upon an appeal heard by Pro Football Hall of Famer Derrick Brooks, a legendary ex-Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker who knows a thing or two about big hits.

Because whether Jackson could avoid that kind of contact on Packers tight end Luke Musgrave is the matter open for debate. Other moments among the four plays that resulted in fines from Weeks 1-6; that’s a different matter entirely.

“I mean, the only thing I can say is that maybe the hit vs. Washington, probably, he launched. That’s probably the only one,” safety P.J. Locke said. “But the other ones, man, it’s just like — it’s nothing he can do. It’s a bang-bang play.

“The one with the Raiders, with Jakobi Meyers, I hate it happening to him, but he slipped into a hit, and then that was a hit to dictate the game. If he gets the first down, it’s over with. So, I don’t know. You in the situation — if you were in good position, if you practice good position, you gonna be in those situations all the time. And just the fact that Kareem hits like — he hits hard. It just makes everything look bad.

PJ Locke on the NFL’s treatment of Kareem Jackson:

“I feel like they treating him like a criminal. I don't like how everybody’s just staining his reputation.”

He continues:

“He’s not a dirty guy by any means, you know what I’m saying?” pic.twitter.com/MBn2HRdK6w

— Andrew Mason (@MaseDenver) October 25, 2023

“So, I don’t know what you do in that situation. Even for the guys around here that’s kind of like, just learning from that situation, there’s no clear-cut answers like, you watch the film, what do you do in a situation? He’s playing football.”

Musgrave was a defenseless receiver, no doubt. And the NFL’s emphasis on reducing the danger to players who are completely exposed to a full-throttle collision has been one of the defining aspects of the sports evolution in recent years.

But can a defender actually avoid the kind of contact that resulted in Jackson’s ejection — and, after four previous fineable offenses this season, a suspension?

“You really can’t,” Broncos edge rusher Baron Browning said. “We can sit here and try to say you can, but when you playing full speed, you can’t.

“Now, if it’s enough time and distance between, maybe you can. But like that situation with ‘Jack’ this past Sunday, that wasn’t a situation I felt like he could have adjusted. I felt like he did everything he could to try to go in with his shoulder. I mean, when you kind of have a rep, though, of getting fined like that or getting those type of penalties, I feel like even if it’s close, they’re just gonna give it to you.”

Broncos OLB Baron Browning, on whether a defender can control and avoid a fine- or suspension-causing hit on a defenseless receiver while trying to make a stop. “You really can’t. We can sit here and try to say you can, but when you playing full speed, you can’t. …” pic.twitter.com/NVVbJxf69i

— Andrew Mason (@MaseDenver) October 25, 2023

And that leaves defensive players confused. Even though the league brings in game officials every training camp to explain rules changes and points of emphasis — which are often related to on-field player safety — matters remain muddled when game action actually commences.

“I just wish we were able to like just actually break the film down and just — tell us what we need to do,” Locke said. “Don’t say, ‘Don’t do this,’ and don’t teach us, you know what I’m saying? So that’s my only thing.”

FOR BRONCOS REACTING TO THE PUNISHMENT OF KAREEM JACKSON, WHAT ARE THE OPTIONS?

“Everybody’s saying it was a clean hit around here. If it was a bad hit, then we’d be like, ‘Hey, bro, you’ve got to go low.’ Then, if you go low, and take somebody’s knee out, and blow their knee out, then, he’s a dirty player,” Locke said.

“So, I don’t know. I don’t know what you do in the situation. I don’t know. He’s just playing football. Like I said, when he gets back, he’s going to be in that situation three or four times a game, so, I don’t know what you do with the situation.”

Clarity would help. The problem is, even that wouldn’t remedy the issue of a split-second change of body posture from a defenseless player, turning a potential — and perfectly legal — shot from the shoulder into the midsection into one that, like Jackson’s, reaches the head and neck area.

“When you playing instinctive football, you can’t also control how the player’s body is going to be when you hit him, like the player from Green Bay (Musgrave),” Browning said. “He couldn’t control that the guy was going down when he was going in with his shoulder.

“That’s like trying to coach off film when you not out there. So, it’s just one of those situations [in which] you’re damned if you do, you damned if you don’t. So, it is what it is.”

And when Browning and Locke arrived for work Wednesday, Kareem Jackson wasn’t there.

“And on top of that, he can’t be in the building. I feel like they treating him like a criminal,” Locke said. “I don’t like how everybody just staining his reputation. He’s not a dirty guy by any means, you know what I’m saying? He’s a captain for a reason on this team. He pulls everybody together, so, that’s just my biggest — that’s the only thing that pisses me off about the situation.”

I asked P.J. Locke about the league statement saying Jackson “had the time and space” to avoid the kind of contact he made on Luke Musgrave.

Locke: “Just — tell us what we need to do. Don’t say, ‘Don’t do this,’ and don’t teach us.” pic.twitter.com/Cuu5QxDwon

— Andrew Mason (@MaseDenver) October 25, 2023

And while Broncos defenders don’t have a clear idea what they can do to avoid punishment, they do know clearly that they will miss Kareem Jackson.

“So, I understand like, the disciplinary action you’ve gotta take and trying to protect the offensive players. I get that 100 percent,” Locke said. “But to treat him like they’re treating him — I don’t like that, man.”

The Broncos have Jackson’s back. But in their minds, the punishment doesn’t fit the crime — if there was even a crime at all.

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