Adam Schefter weighs potential punishment for Jalen Carter after spitting on Dak Prescott

Jalen Carter was ejected from Thursday night’s NFL season opener between the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys after spitting on QB Dak Prescott. The incident occurred before the first snap of the football game.

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, there could be additional punishment on the way. Schefter expects a decision, if any, to discipline the Eagles defensive lineman to be made early next week.

“We should hear something, I would imagine, on Monday, whether that’s a hefty fine, whether it’s additional suspension time, we will see,” Schefter said during SportsCenter on Sunday morning. “I would think that there’ll be a ruling on Monday. But there are people who remember the words of Troy Vincent in the spring and how much sportsmanship means to him and how much of a point of emphasis it was to Vincent and the rest of the National Football League.”

On Thursday night after the ejection, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio reported then that there was potential for the NFL to take action against the Eagles DT. The NFL insider revealed that several factors will be considered regarding his punishment, if he receives one. One of those factors includes the manner in which Carter handles the situation after the game.

Both Florio and Schefter noted that respect for one’s opponent has been a widely-discussed topic across the NFL this season. Carter displayed “the ultimate disrespect,” per Florio, by spitting on Prescott before the game had really started, and the NFL could use Carter as an early example of these new standards.

The ejection came moments after Philadelphia fullback Ben VanSumeren was injured on the opening kickoff. The Cowboys offense and Eagles defense were both on the field waiting for the opening drive to begin when the incident occurred. The referee was right there and immediately flagged Carter for unsportsmanlike conduct and ejected him from the game.

Additional context to the situation was later revealed. According to Nick Harris of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Prescott had apparently spit on the ground near the Eagles defensive huddle. Carter took this as hostile, according to the report, and spit back directly at the Cowboys QB despite Prescott explaining it wasn’t. NBC analyst and former Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett got Prescott’s side of the story, who stated that the whole thing was a “misunderstanding.”

Now, there could be potential ramifications for Carter. What the ultimate ruling will be remains to be seen.