The NFL suspended Los Angeles Rams left tackle Alaric Jackson for two games without pay on Tuesday after he punched Buffalo Bills linebacker Bradley Chubb in the face during a postgame scrum following the Rams’ 37-34 overtime loss on Monday Night Football. The league cited Rule 12, Section 3, Article 1, covering “any act which is contrary to the generally understood principles of sportsmanship.” Jackson is expected to miss Weeks 6 and 7 against the Arizona Cardinals and Las Vegas Raiders, with a return targeted for Week 8 against the Los Angeles Chargers.
The incident unfolded well after the final whistle, as players from both teams lingered on the SoFi Stadium field exchanging jerseys and giving interviews. Jackson was swapping jerseys with Bills defensive lineman Deone Walker when Chubb appeared to say something in his direction. Jackson walked toward Chubb near midfield, the two exchanged words, and Jackson then threw a right hand that connected with Chubb’s face. Rams tight end Colby Parkinson pulled Jackson away to end the confrontation. Head coach Sean McVay said Tuesday he does not know what Chubb said to provoke Jackson, and that he wants to “understand the totality of the situation” before commenting further.
A Second Suspension in Three Seasons for Jackson
This marks the second NFL suspension of Jackson’s career — he also sat out two games in 2024 for violating the league’s personal conduct policy. Jackson has been the Rams’ starting left tackle and a key piece protecting Matthew Stafford’s blind side. He plans to appeal the suspension under the collective bargaining agreement, according to McVay, though if the ban is upheld, veteran David Quessenberry is slated to start at left tackle against both Arizona and Las Vegas.
The suspension lands at a brutal moment for a Rams team that is unraveling on multiple fronts. Los Angeles fell to 2-3 after Monday’s loss, which included a blocked potential game-winning 48-yard field goal in overtime by kicker Harrison Mevis — his second missed attempt of the night after also hooking a 50-yard try wide left earlier in the game. Less than 24 hours later, the Rams released Mevis, who had converted just five of nine field-goal attempts this season after a strong finish to 2025. Los Angeles signed Blake Grupe off the New York Jets’ practice squad to replace him. McVay did not mince words afterward, saying the kicking operation was “not even close to good enough” and that it “cost us the game.”
What Losing Jackson Means for the Betting Market
Stafford has already taken a beating up front this season. Entering Week 6, he had been sacked 21 times and pressured a league-high 73 times through five games, according to Next Gen Stats, with a 34.3% pressure rate that ranks among the highest in the NFL. Losing a starting left tackle for two games — even with Quessenberry, a long-tenured veteran, stepping in — adds further uncertainty to an offensive line that was already under siege and has contributed to Stafford’s career-high turnover pace, including seven lost fumbles tied for the league high.
Despite the O-line concerns, the market has barely blinked on Los Angeles’ Week 6 matchup with Arizona. The Rams opened as roughly 13-point home favorites and have been bet down slightly to around -12.5, with a moneyline near -900 and the total sitting at 52.5. Books clearly view the Cardinals’ pass rush as enough of a mismatch that even a suspended left tackle doesn’t meaningfully threaten the spread. The bigger watch point for bettors is less about this week’s line and more about how the protection issue compounds over time — Stafford’s pressure-to-production numbers under duress this season (just 3.4 yards per attempt when hurried, compared to 9.4 from a clean pocket in one recent outing) suggest any further erosion up front could start showing up in passing props and game totals before it moves a full-game spread. Jackson’s eventual Week 8 return against the Chargers becomes a notable line-watch date in its own right, given how much the Rams’ offensive identity hinges on protecting their 34-year-old quarterback.
