Four players from the Jacksonville Jaguars were detained on Saturday, after an incident in London, England, where the team is scheduled to play the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday. This particular matter did involve the police, but no player is being charged, and any discipline will be handled internally. The team also isn’t commenting on which players were detained. The police report also indicates that officers were called after reports of a fight broke out. The bigger question is whether or not it was the players who attempted to walk out without paying their bill. Below is a statement made by London Police:
“Police were called … following reports of a fight. Officers attended and spoke with a group of males who had allegedly been attempting to leave the venue without paying a large bill. Four men aged in their twenties were subsequently arrested on suspicion of fraud by false representation and taken to a central London police station for questioning. They were all subsequently released with no further action.”
If you were in a nightclub, let’s say, and you saw four professional football players trying to leave without paying, would you try to stop them? I mean, maybe, but at the same time, these guys are pretty big and could probably do some damage if they did. Which leads me to wonder if it was four men who happened to be in the nightclub who tried to leave, and then Jacksonville Jaguar players intervened and attempted to stop them. That’s when the fight broke out, and maybe that’s why they didn’t get charged. While that might be considered poor behavior for NFL players, I don’t see why they should get punished by the team or the league.
Because no one is coming forward with details, we don’t know who tried to leave. I find it hard to believe that a football player who makes an enormous amount of money, would try to leave without paying, but stranger things have happened.
This, however, just adds to a long list of bad news for the Jaguars. Coming off a season in which they reached the AFC Championship Game, the Jaguars (3-4) have gone in the opposite direction and lost three consecutive games entering Sunday’s clash against the reigning Super Bowl champions. Bortles was benched last weekend against the Houston Texans after losing two fumbles. Coach Doug Marrone reinstated him as the starter but warned things could change if the turnovers continue.
Injuries have a lot to do with their struggles. The Jaguars are on their third-string left tackle, the other four offensive line starters are dealing with nagging injuries and two tight ends have been lost. Star running back Leonard Fournette has played in just two games, due to a hamstring injury. The defense hasn’t played at its 2017 level, either. The Jaguars are giving up 121.9 yards per game rushing (25th in the NFL), have forced only five turnovers (second-fewest in the league) and have only 15 sacks despite having the second-highest pressure rate. While the two aren’t necessarily related, it definitely speaks to the overall struggles that the team is going through.