Report: Amari Cooper punched Pacman Jones in the throat

Adam “Pacman” Jones was fined $35,000 by the NFL this week for slamming Oakland Raiders rookie receiver Amari Cooper’s head into his own helmet last Sunday. As it turns out, Jones may have been retaliating after an earlier cheap shot from Cooper.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk reports that Jones slammed Cooper’s head after the whistle because he was angry over Cooper punching him in the throat just before that. A source told PFT that Jones was pursuing the ball and Cooper threw a fist into his throat to prevent him from getting to it.

You can see a video of what was supposedly Pacman retaliating here.

While the alleged throat punch doesn’t justify Pacman’s actions, it would help explain a lot. For starters, Cooper basically defended Jones after the play and said having his head banged into his own helmet is just one of the risks of playing a physical game. Pacman also said earlier this week that he is an emotional person and can’t guarantee he wouldn’t do it again.

Although Jones has a history of getting into trouble and even went after one of his own teammates last season, there’s a chance the NFL took Cooper’s alleged punch into consideration when making a disciplinary ruling.