REPORT: Allegations of alcohol, marijuana use on Jaguars plane could result in "significant NFL discipline"

As many Jacksonville Jaguars have likely heard by now, the team was recently named as a co-defendant in a lawsuit by two flight attendants. That lawsuit was made against former Jaguars kicker Brandon McManus as the other defendant and stems from the team's-chartered September 28th, 2023, flight to London and the returning flight to Jacksonville. However, as details of the allegations continue to be made public, additional questions and allegations have come up that could place the organization in hot water in league circles.

The issue of alcohol

The details from the McManus lawsuit suggests that the team may have violated the NFL policy on having alcohol on the team flight. Per Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio:

The complaint uses the word “drinking” or “drink” three times, and the clear implication is that it wasn’t water. Moreover, it’s our understanding that witnesses will say alcohol was brought by Jaguars players onto the plane.

This becomes a problem for the Jaguars because alcohol is strictly prohibited, by league policy, on team property or during team travel. In November 2022, after incidents involving former Titans offensive coordinator Todd Downing and Commanders players, the NFL sent a memo to all teams threatening significant discipline in the event of further violations.

A few former NFL players and fans alike expressed shock at the news that alcohol is not allowed on NFL travel, especially for a 10-hour flight. Two former Jaguar players expressed their sentiments on the socials below.

As the report outlines, the no alcohol rule was a newer rule, passed by the NFL just 11 months ago after the Tennessee Titans and Washington Commanders incidents.

In-flight marijuana use aledged

As an update to the story, the complaint also alleges that throughout the "party scene" there was alleged marijuana use on the flight back from London. Per the report:

“Throughout the course of the flight, Plaintiffs smelled marijuana smoke coming from the plane’s restrooms.”

As the report outlines, this would be something that is discoverable within the litigation, during the process of deposing and interviewing potential witnesses.

If people were smoking in the bathroom on the plane, plenty of other people will have smelled it. And when the players and other witnesses to whatever McManus did or didn’t do testify under oath, they’ll have to say what they saw, heard, and smelled.

That testimony could, in turn, get one or more players or other team personnel in a pickle with the substance-abuse policy.

Team's responsibility

As an additional point from the report, the team assumes the responsibility to confirm no players bring alcohol on the plane or bus in team travel.

The policy imposes an obligation on the team to ensure players follow it. It’s not enough that the team doesn’t provide it. The team has to keep players from bringing alcohol onto the plane, based on the NFL’s current rule.

Per this section of the report, this would put the onus on team leadership and coaches to actively investigate and confirm with players (and other team personnel) that they do not have any alcohol on board. Also, if any alcohol was later seen by team personnel during the flight, I would assume it would need to be reported to the team or the NFL. This is the meat of where the lawsuit and the NFL rule may overlap - what do the witnesses corroborate. Did any witnesses see any drinking of alcohol, what was reported to the team, was anything reported to the league, etc?

Significant NFL Discipline

Because of the alcohol policy being a more recent rule update, it is still unknown what exactly is meant by "significant discipline", should any future penalties come about from a pending league investigation.

Nevertheless, it should be noted that this issue and investigation is a totally separate issue of whether or not the team is liable within the McManus lawsuit. It could, however be a seperate complaint argued by the plaintiffs in the lawsuit to state that the team shared in McManus' actions, by potentially not adhering to league rules in checking for alcohol. Alcohol use is not currently directly named within the complaint, however.

At the end of the day, the lawsuit allegations may potentially have additional negative downstream impacts for the Jaguars' on-field product, pending further league investigation. Could a larger team fine be on the table from the league? Or are we looking at a potential loss of draft picks, or more? As we await more information, the busy offseason for the Jaguars’ legal counsel continues.

Update