Stephen A. Smith: Jalen Carter 'deserves' suspension, punishment after spitting at Dak Prescott

Stephen A. Smith was taken aback by Jalen Carter’s actions on Thursday night. The Philadelphia Eagles star defensive lineman was ejected in the first quarter of his team’s 24-20 victory over the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday for spitting on quarterback Dak Prescott.

Moving forward, Smith believes more punishment is deserved for Carter. While some believe missing the entire Week 1 showdown was enough of a reprimand, the ESPN analyst is thinking a proper suspension is on the horizon.

“I thought the Eagles were in trouble, because I couldn’t believe how idiotic Jalen Carter was,” Smith explained, via Get Up on Friday. “I thought he was baited by Dak Prescott, because Dak Prescott spit to the ground first, but you can’t put yourself in that position to hurt your teammates like that. You just can’t do that. … I think he’d deserve it (a suspension). He’s a star player, so important to that team. You just can’t be that selfish and that immature. You can’t do something like that.

“As men—we all know this—there’s very, very few things you can do that’s more insulting than spitting at a person. And we all know who’s the No. 1 protected player on a football field? It’s the quarterback. He spit at Dak Prescott. Like, how stupid can you be? That’s just not sports.”

As you can tell, Smith believes there’s no defending Carter in this situation. Some have pointed to Prescott spitting on video prior to the interaction, but the quarterback told NBC Sports’ Jason Garrett that he was simply spitting over teammate Tyler Booker‘s shoulder while they were in the offensive huddle.

Evidently, Carter thought Prescott spat at him, and he responded by spitting on Prescott: “I talked to Dak as he was coming off the field after the game,” Garrett said. “Dak said he was talking to Tyler Booker, and he had to spit. So, he spit over Booker’s shoulder.

“I guess Jalen Carter was looking at him and he came over and he said, ‘Are you spitting at me?’ Then Dak said, ‘Why would I spit at you?’ He [Carter] got closer, and he spit back at him. I guess it was a misunderstanding.”

Alas, Prescott’s side of the story matches the footage NBC showed on the broadcast. After he spat on the ground, however, he looked up in Carter’s direction and smiled. The two had an exchange, and Carter spat back right in front of the official. 

As a result of Carter’s ejection, the Eagles’ defense struggled in the first half, allowing 20 points. The second half was a different story, though, as Philadelphia’s defense pitched a shutout.

Additionally, the Eagles forced a key fumble inside their own 10-yard line late in the third quarter. That proved to be the difference, as the Cowboys’ offense failed to generate much. 

It remains to be seen if there’s any punishment from the league coming Carter’s way moving forward. Smith and Cowboys fans wouldn’t mind seeing it, but Philadelphia is certainly hoping their defensive lineman gets hit with a fine or a warning instead of missing another contest next week.

— On3’s Nick Geddes contributed to this article.