Kareem Jackson will still miss time. However, it will not be as much as the Broncos originally feared.
The 14-year veteran safety had his four-game suspension trimmed to two games on appeal, the NFL announced Tuesday.
That said, the suspension remains substantial for on-field incidents within the run of play.
Jackson will miss the Broncos’ games against Kansas City on Oct. 29 and in Buffalo on Nov. 13. He can return to the roster on Nov. 14.
With the salary lost to the suspension, Kareem Jackson has now racked up over $369,000 in lost pay. That represents nearly 15 percent of his $2.515 million base salary.
The NFL fined Jackson a combined $89,670 for incidents in Weeks 1, 2, 3 and 6. Nearly half of that previous tally — $43,709 — came for a fourth-quarter hit on Kansas City’s Isiah Pacheco.
Jackson also has two ejections in seven games. His end-zone, concussion-causing shot on Washington tight end Logan Thomas resulted in his ejection from that game.
The Broncos will likely turn to P.J. Locke, who replaced Jackson after his ejection Sunday for a fourth-quarter hit on Packers tight end Luke Musgrave.
Locke had an eventful Sunday. At one point, he appeared to not hear a call to enter the game, leading the Broncos to use a timeout with only 10 players on the field. The CBS cameras caught Broncos coach Sean Payton in a state of fury on the sideline.
But Locke bounced back and displayed his range on the game-sealing interception, dashing roughly halfway across the field to intercept Jordan Love’s heave, allowing the Broncos to seascape with that 19-17 win.
Despite playing 50 games for the Broncos since 2020, Locke has never started.
That’s about to change.
