Packers' Josh Jacobs says hands-behind-back TD celebration drew on a gospel song

Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs said he was paying homage to a gospel song, not mocking his recent arrest, when he briefly put his hands behind his back while celebrating a touchdown in the Packers' 27-19 win over the Carolina Panthers on Thursday night. The one-yard run came in the second quarter of Jacobs's second game since returning from the commissioner's exempt list, where he had been placed after charges were filed against him in August over a May altercation with his then-girlfriend, who said he threw her to the ground. Jacobs pleaded no contest last month to misdemeanor battery and criminal damage to property. Video of the gesture spread on social media, with some viewers believing he was simulating being handcuffed. Jacobs said he and teammates, including Savion Williams, had planned a celebration thanking God, based on the song Break Every Chain.

Right-leaning Washington Times frames the story around the criticism the celebration drew and Jacobs's gospel-song explanation; its excerpt does not mention the charges or any other allegations. Left-leaning Guardian uses a headline built on Jacobs's denial that he was mocking his arrest, and its article adds the August charges, the May altercation and the no-contest plea that the right-leaning excerpt omits. Both lead with Jacobs's account and agree on the core facts of the celebration and the game. Alternative outlets ESPN and Yahoo Sports, the latter republishing HEAVY, take a distinct angle: ESPN reports three other women contacted police with abuse allegations against Jacobs after his May arrest, and Yahoo says more women have made claims since then, a point neither left nor right coverage here raises.