GREEN BAY, WI - OCTOBER 29: Josh Jacobs #8 of the Green Bay Packers looks on from the field during an NFL football game against the Carolina Panthers at Lambeau Field on October 29, 2026 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images)
Matt LaFleur does anticipate Josh Jacobs remaining with the Green Bay Packers after prior allegations emerge
Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur does “anticipate” running back Josh Jacobs remaining part of the team after new allegations emerged of Jacobs assaulting multiple women.
“We’re aware of the prior allegations on Josh and we’re gonna let the NFL due its process,” LaFleur said Monday, Nov. 2, during media availability. “But I would anticipate him being a member of us moving forward.”
The new allegations are from prior unreported accusations made by three different women in 2021 and 2022, when Jacobs was a member of the Las Vegas Raiders.
NBC26 TV in Green Bay first reported the allegations after receiving a case file related to Jacobs’ May arrest from the Hobart-Lawrence Police Department via a public records request.
The NFL was already investigating Jacobs following a May 23 arrest and eventual conviction on Sept. 10, pleading no contest to misdemeanor battery and misdemeanor criminal damage to property.
Jacobs spent six games on the NFL commissioner’s exempt list when he was removed on Oct. 19 and has played in the last two games for the Packers. The NFL said the investigation remained open and further suspension is possible. The NFL said Saturday, Oct. 31, that it is aware of the previously unreported allegations and will continue to investigate.
The emergence of the prior allegations leaves some Packers fans wondering whether the team can continue to keep Jacobs on the squad. But, LaFleur signaled Monday that the team is moving forward with Jacobs on the squad.
The case file received by the Green Bay TV station includes summaries of three telephone interviews describing previous incidents in which Jacobs allegedly became physical with a woman.
One woman told police that Jacobs slapped her in the face, threw her onto a bed, threw her to the floor, spit on her and grabbed her throat in January 2022, according to the NBC26 report. The station reported that the woman told police she came forward almost five years later after not initially reporting Jacobs because she wanted people to believe the May 2026 victim.
Another woman told police that Jacobs physically abused her in April 2021 when he grabbed her arm and pushed her against a wall, according to NBC26. She told police that she suffered bruising to her arm and pain in her ribs, but police said in the case file that they obtained records from the alleged April 2021 incident and responding officers at the time said they didn’t see signs consistent with a physical altercation.
A third woman told police that in May 2022, Jacobs dragged her by the head and neck and scratched her chest, causing marks that remained visible for a month, per NBC26. The woman, whose information was given to police by the May 2026 victim, told police that she didn’t initially report the alleged incident or seek medical treatment because Jacobs told her she could be deported, according to the station’s reporting on the case file.
Jacobs’ attorneys, David Z. Chesnoff, Richard A. Schonfeld, and Clarence F. Duchac III, released a statement to media outlets Saturday addressing the allegations:
“The Brown County District Attorney’s office had these uncorroborated, old, and previously unreported allegations for months. They conducted their own exhaustive investigation, along with the police department, and the D.A. determined that only two misdemeanor charges were warranted. They then entered into a plea agreement with Josh Jacobs. Josh has repeatedly expressed his remorse and is honoring the terms of the agreement.”
They issued another, more detailed statement on Sunday.
Jacobs previously filed a lawsuit against the local police department on Oct. 14, looking to permanently block the release of records, like video. The victim is also pursuing legal action to prevent the release of records. The criminal complaint connected to the altercation stated that video surveillance from inside Jacobs’ garage corroborated the victim’s claim that she hit her head and suffered an injury after Jacobs “grabbed her and threw her to the ground.”
When video emerged in 2014 of former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice assaulting his then-fiancee in a casino elevator, Rice never played a down again in the NFL. There’s been more domestic violence-related incidents since then in the league, but the Rice example shows the effect released video footage can have.
In his first comments to reporters since his arrest, Jacobs said Oct. 21 that he met with the team to take “accountability” and apologized for bringing “attention” to the organization.
In his second game back, Jacobs appeared to stir the pot during his touchdown celebration, but claimed after the game it was a misunderstanding. After scoring, Jacobs put his hands behind his back as if he was getting handcuffed. But after the game, Jacobs said the celebration was not a reference to his being arrested, but instead to a gospel song titled "Break Every Chain."
“They didn't even get the whole celebration," Jacobs said, referring to the Amazon Prime broadcast. "It was one second that they just saw me. Anyways, me and (wide receiver Savion Williams), we came up with the celebration, if they would've seen the whole celebration.
"Basically, last week, we said the first celebration, when I score, I was gonna thank God. That's what I did last week. Second one was gonna be 'Break Every Chain.' It's a gospel song. That was gonna be the next celebration. It's just a correlation. But like I said, the media's gonna run with it. They're gonna make it something that it wasn't. But it is what it is."
A longer video of the celebration shows Williams running over to Jacobs and seemingly unlocking the chains on Jacobs' wrists, after which Jacobs breaks free.
Although Jacobs’ explanation seems reasonable, based on the full video, it still didn’t go over well with many fans and causes one to question his judgement and handling of these very serious allegations.
The Packers (5-3) are at the New England Patriots (5-3) on Sunday, Nov. 8, at 3:25 p.m.
Drake Bentley is the general assignment reporter for the Milwaukee Courier, covering politics, sports and the community. He is an award-winning investigative journalist who has worked for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Wisconsin State Journal, Newsweek, Heavy and The Sporting News. He is a northside Milwaukee native, former political staffer and graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and the University of Nebraska.