Green Bay Packers

After his arrest in May, Packers running back Josh Jacobs received formal charges for a domestic abuse incident.

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ESPN reported Thursday that Jacobs was charged with two misdemeanors in the state of Wisconsin, court records showed.

The 28-year-old running back has been the Packers’ leading rusher in each of the last two seasons, once named an All-Pro with the Raiders.

Here’s what’s known about Jacobs’ charges.

Josh Jacobs charges

Jacobs was charged with misdemeanor battery and misdemeanor criminal damage to property in the state of Wisconsin on Thursday, ESPN reported. Both charges carry maximum sentences of nine months in prison and/or a $10,000 fine, per the Green Bay Post Gazette.

When he was arrested in May, Jacobs was booked on multiple suggested charges, but they were not yet formal, the Brown County District Attorney said at the time.

Now, the running back has officially received the two misdemeanor charges.

«Our office sought to ensure a fair and complete review of available evidence, some of which only recently became available to our office due to significant, ongoing forensic efforts by law enforcement,» Brown County District Attorney David L. Lasee said in a statement, per ESPN. «A criminal complaint is nothing more than a written, formal accusation against a defendant alleging the commission of criminal offenses and does not raise any inference of guilt. Mr. Jacobs is presumed innocent of these charges. As this is an ongoing criminal case, and out of respect for the rights of all parties, our office will not have further comment on the matter at this time.»

The NFL is conducting its own investigation into Jacobs, who will be subject to suspension. 

Jacobs is scheduled for an initial court appearance on Nov. 17, per ESPN.

What did Josh Jacobs do?

Jacobs was arrested on May 26, 2026, by the Hobart-Lawrence Police Department in Brown County, Wisconsin, stemming from a domestic situation at his home that occurred three days prior, May 23.

Jacobs was booked on counts of battery (domestic abuse, criminal damage to property), domestic abuse, disorderly conduct (domestic abuse, strangulation and suffocation), and intimidation of a victim; the strangulation and suffocation charge was a felony, and the other four charges were misdemeanors.

Jacobs spent one day in jail before being released, with an investigation remaining ongoing at the time.

Now, prosecutors are not moving forward with the felony charge of strangulation and suffocation or two other misdemeanors; Jacobs is being formally charged with misdemeanor battery and misdemeanor criminal damage to property.

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Was Josh Jacobs arrested?

Jacobs was arrested on May 26 for a domestic violence incident that occurred at his home near Green Bay on May 23.

After spending one night in jail, he was released, and he has practiced with the Packers throughout training camp and preseason as investigations have been ongoing.

Josh Jacobs incident report

Per ABC2, a criminal complaint alleged that Jacobs «threw his girlfriend to the ground during an argument over cellphones, causing her to strike her head.» Police were dispatched to his home at 8:37 a.m. on May 23 after receiving an «open-line call featuring background yelling and swearing.»

The victim in the complaint said she «confronted Jacobs after finding messages from other women on his phone,» and the confrontation «escalated into a physical struggle as she tried to retrieve her own cellphone from Jacobs,» per ABC2. The dispute then reportedly continued inside a bedroom, with the victim grabbing a second phone from a bag; the complaint said Jacobs called her a derogatory name and told her he would “do something to her” before she tried to call police, per ABC2. He then allegedly followed her as she attempted to exit through the garage door, grabbing her and throwing her to the floor, with officers noting «visible redness on her face and neck and felt a physical lump on the back of her head.»

According to ABC2, a digital forensic examination of the home’s garage surveillance video later corroborated the physical altercation, showing Jacobs «taking the victim’s phone while she was on the floor and returning 40 seconds later to damage it.»

Full incident report regarding Josh Jacobs from the Brown County District Attorney: pic.twitter.com/6yZpqxu5Y3

— Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) August 27, 2026

Will the NFL punish Josh Jacobs?

Jacobs has been under investigation by the NFL, with a suspension possible for violating the league’s personal conduct policy.

«We have been closely monitoring all developments in the matter which remains under review,» NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said in a statement about Jacobs on Thursday, per ESPN.

The Packers have also made it clear that they’re prepared for a Jacobs suspension. General manager Brian Gutekunst said Wednesday that the team may carry an extra running back if he thinks Jacobs could miss the start of the season, with MarShawn Lloyd and Chris Brooks already set to be backups for Green Bay.

«We’ll deal with that if that transpires but we could,» Gutekunst said, per ESPN. «You’re always usually going to keep three or four running backs, and I think we have enough to do that. But again it comes down to choices and trying to figure that out. The one thing, particularly at that position, is elevating a guy from the practice squad — I don’t want to say it’s easy to do but it’s something we’ve done in the past and not something we’d shy away from.»

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