LOS ANGELES (AP) — Left tackle Alaric Jackson will play for the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday after being sued this week by a woman who alleges he recorded sexual acts with her on his phone without her consent.
Rams head coach Sean McVay said the team won't suspend or remove Jackson from its lineup before Los Angeles (7-2) hosts the Seattle Seahawks (7-2) in a meeting of NFC co-leaders.
“We’re keeping those things in-house,” McVay said Friday. “This is something that was a previous incident, so as he goes through that process, we’ll deal with those things behind the scenes. Was made aware. There won’t be any actions as it relates to Alaric as far as his status for the game this week.”
Jackson was suspended for the first two games of the 2024 season for an undisclosed violation of the NFL’s personal conduct policy, but the reason was not publicly revealed until the woman filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court on Thursday. The unnamed woman’s suit indicates she reported the May 2024 incident to the league, which subsequently suspended Jackson.
The Rams then re-signed Jackson to a three-year, $57 million deal in February.
“I can't really say anything about it,” Jackson said after practice Friday. “It's a court case, a legal matter.”
Jackson said he has spoken to McVay about the lawsuit this week. He hasn't addressed the trouble with his teammates, and he doesn't plan to do so.
When asked what he had learned from this experience, Jackson replied: “Just to move forward, honestly, with my life.”
When Jackson returned from his suspension last season, he declined to go into the reasons he was banned, only saying it was “definitely selfish” to hurt his team with his off-field actions.
A dual citizen of Canada and the U.S., Jackson is in his third season as Los Angeles' starting left tackle after initially making the roster as an undrafted free agent out of Iowa. He was a rookie backup lineman during the Rams' Super Bowl championship season in 2021-22.
Jackson has started all nine games this season despite missing the preseason and training camp while getting treatment for a recurrence of the blood clots that forced him to miss the second half of the 2022 season. He has started 38 games and all three of the Rams' playoff games since then.
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