Eagles' Jalen Carter fined by NFL for spitting incident, eligible to play vs. Chiefs

Jeff Neiburg, The Philadelphia Inquirer on Sep 9, 2025

Published in Football

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

PHILADELPHIA — Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter will be available for the team’s Week 2 game Sunday in Kansas City.

Carter has been suspended one game without pay by the NFL, which ruled Tuesday that the timing of his Thursday ejection for spitting on Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott served as his one-game punishment. He will forfeit his game check of $57,222.

According to a news release, the NFL Players Association informed the league that Carter will not appeal the ruling.

“League rules prohibiting unsportsmanlike conduct are of vital importance to everyone involved in the game,” the NFL said in a release. “The NFL has been clear with players, clubs, and the NFLPA that it plans to place particular emphasis on sportsmanship this season.”

Carter, who is arguably the most important player on the Eagles’ defense, was ejected from the their Week 1 game before the first play from scrimmage. Without him on Thursday, the Eagles struggled to apply pressure on Prescott. They did not sack him once.

“You got to be focused at the job at hand and all extracurricular stuff needs to not have any importance to you,” Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said Tuesday.

Fangio will now be able to continue his planning for Kansas City knowing the Eagles will have Carter available. In addition to the league’s ruling, the Eagles could levy their own punishment against Carter. Nick Sirianni has said repeatedly that he would keep any internal discipline against Carter “private.” Carter was held out of the opening series in Week 2 last year during a home game against Atlanta after being late to a team meeting.

The Eagles anticipated Carter stepping into a leadership role in his third season. The interior line group is young, and Carter is one of the game’s premier players at his position. He will be in line for a lucrative extension next offseason.

“To be considered a leader, actions speak louder than words, and he’s got to lead through his actions,” Fangio said.