The Jacksonville Jaguars’ latest communication issue apparently sparked an international incident in London.
Four Jaguars players — safety Barry Church, cornerback D.J. Hayden, safety Ronnie Harrison and safety Jarrod Wilson — were detained in London early Saturday morning after what the team described as a dispute “over restitution of a bill.”
On Sunday morning, NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport provided more details of what he reported was a “misunderstanding” involving those Jaguars players and the staff at a London-area nightclub.
From our GameDay Kickoff Show: Four #Jaguars players were involved in an incident at a London club in what some present describe as a misunderstanding. Of that group, only CB DJ Hayden is inactive, and that's injury related. pic.twitter.com/yGlg7YvTBy
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 28, 2018
“From what I’m told, the players were being sent some high-end liquor, some champagne to their table at the club,” Rapoport said on NFL Network. “They thought they were receiving it for free. Instead, they were hit with a massive bill, more than $30,000 in (U.S.) dollars.
“They did not want to pay it, and at that point a disagreement occurred and the players were taken in.”
Don’t you hate when you think something is free and it ends up being $30,000?
The London police said in a statement the players tried to leave the club without paying, so there clearly was some misunderstanding here. All four players were released with no further action from a central London police station after questioning.
It’s unclear if the Jags will discipline any of these players, but it still was a bad look for a struggling Jacksonville team as it prepared for Sunday morning’s game against the Philadelphia Eagles at Wembley Stadium. The Jaguars have lost three in a row to drop to 3-4 on the season and face a stiff challenge in the defending Super Bowl champs.
