Josh Jacobs Denies New Abuse Allegations as NFL Review Stays Open

Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs denied new abuse allegations on Wednesday, speaking to reporters for the first time since police records added accounts from three more women to the case that kept him out of the first six games of this season.

"It really feels like an attack on me and who I am and my character," Jacobs said, according to ESPN reporter Rob Demovsky. "There's a lot of stuff being said about me that's completely false, like, completely made up, and it's like people just run with it. And I can't change that."

Jacobs said he does not expect to miss any more games. "With all the evidence that we have and that they have at this point, it's not one of those things where I'm sitting back on my hands like, 'OK, am I going to play this week?'" he said.

What the released records say

The Hobart-Lawrence Police Department released its case file on Friday, October 30. The file holds accounts from three women who contacted police in June and July, after Jacobs was arrested in May. The women described alleged incidents in April 2021, January 2022 and May 2022, when Jacobs played for the Las Vegas Raiders. All three accounts are allegations. Jacobs denies each one, and no charges from those accounts have been announced.

One woman said Jacobs grabbed her arms, shoved her into a wall and threw her belongings out of the house in April 2021, leaving her bruised. Officers who answered a call at the time saw no visible injury, according to the records. A second woman said he slapped her, seized her by the hair and the throat, and spit on her in January 2022. A third said he dragged her, scratched her chest and took her phone in May 2022. One woman also said he threatened to kill her.

The response from Jacobs and the league

Jacobs' attorneys, David Z. Chesnoff, Richard A. Schonfeld and Clarence F. Duchac III, said in a statement on Sunday that Jacobs denies all three accounts and has evidence to back him up. They called the accounts "old, are hearsay, and easily disproven" and called the release of the file a "character assassination." The statement said the file holds only phone interviews taken years after the events, with no added investigation, and that one woman had already taken a claim to the NFL, which reviewed it and took no action.

NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said the league will review the new allegations as part of its investigation, which has stayed open. Packers coach Matt LaFleur opened his Monday news conference with the subject. "We're aware of the prior allegations on Josh," LaFleur said. "We're going to allow the NFL to do its process. But I would anticipate him being a member of us moving forward."

The May case

Jacobs, 28, was arrested on May 26, three days after an altercation with his then girlfriend at his home in Hobart. On September 10 he pleaded no contest to misdemeanor counts of battery and criminal damage to property. He was convicted of battery and fined $1,000.

The NFL placed Jacobs on the commissioner's exempt list before the season. He missed the first six games, then returned in Week 7. Those six games would count toward any suspension the league later hands down.

Green Bay plays at the New England Patriots on Sunday. The NFL has given no date for a decision on its review.