Rams starting left tackle Alaric Jackson has been suspended for two games without pay for striking Buffalo linebacker Bradley Chubb in the face after their teams’ overtime game Monday night.
The NFL announced the suspension Tuesday for Jackson, who is slated to miss Los Angeles’ games against Arizona and Las Vegas. Jackson will appeal the league’s ruling, Rams coach Sean McVay said.
“Have to make better decisions than that,” McVay said. “I spoke with him. We’ll keep that in-house. … I want to understand the totality of the situation. I’m not condoning by any means, but I want to gather all the information.”
David Quessenberry will start left tackle for the Rams during Jackson’s absence, McVay said. The 36-year-old veteran has played only 128 offensive snaps over the previous two seasons, and he hasn’t started an NFL game since 2023.
Jackson struck Chubb after the two exchanged words following the Bills’ 37-34 overtime victory over the Rams at SoFi Stadium. In a press release, the league called Jackson’s blow “an act of unsportsmanlike conduct.”
Jackson was doing a jersey swap with another Bills player when Chubb had words with him and walked away. Jackson followed and confronted Chubb before throwing a strike that knocked Chubb’s hat off his head.
Teammates quickly separated the two, but Jackson was already in trouble yet again.
Jackson was arrested on June 9 on suspicion of felony domestic violence after a confrontation with a woman at his home in the San Fernando Valley. His case was assigned for a prefiling diversion that likely allows him to avoid criminal charges, but the NFL has yet to announce a decision on possible league discipline for that incident.
He was sued in 2025 by a woman who alleged he recorded sexual acts with her on his phone without her consent. The incident, which wasn’t publicly revealed until the lawsuit was filed, led to Jackson being suspended for the first two games of the 2024 season for an undisclosed violation of the NFL’s personal conduct policy.
Jackson, a Canadian-American dual citizen, is one of the Rams’ longest-tenured players. He won a Super Bowl ring as a backup lineman in February 2022.
The former undrafted free agent out of Iowa is in his fourth season as the Rams’ starting left tackle and the protector of Matthew Stafford’s blind side. The Rams re-signed Jackson to a three-year, $57 million deal in February 2025.
Jackson’s absence is potentially serious for the Rams because they don’t have a trusted backup at the most important position on their offensive line.
Despite being the Rams’ putative backup to both tackle positions, Quessenberry only took 10 offensive snaps for the Rams last year — and none yet this year. When Jackson missed one game last season, the Rams played relatively new signee DJ Humphries instead of Quessenberry, who was a full-time NFL starter for just one season with Tennessee in 2021.
Rookie Keagen Trost, another potential backup tackle, has been on injured reserve all season with a hamstring problem. McVay said the Rams are hopeful Trost will be in game shape soon.