Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter has been fined $57,222 and avoided further suspension for spitting on Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott in Week 1, the NFL announced Tuesday.
"Because Carter was disqualified before participating in a single play, the suspension is considered to have been served in Week 1 and he will forfeit his game game check," the NFL said in a press release.
Carter was ejected from the Eagles' 24-20 win over the Cowboys before the first play from scrimmage.
Six seconds into the 2025 NFL season, the broadcast showed Carter hawking a loogie onto Prescott's jersey after the two exchanged words and then backing away. Prescott motioned toward a nearby referee, who flagged Carter for unsportmanlike conduct and then tossed Carter from the game. Carter was escorted to the Eagles' locker room by the team's head of security, "Big Dom" DiSandro.
"It was a mistake that happened on my side. It won't happen again," Carter said. "I feel bad for just my teammates and fans out there. I'm doing it for them. I'm doing it for my family, also. But the fans, they showed the most love. We're going to get it better. It won't happen again. I can make that promise."
The broadcast later showed another angle of the incident preceding Carter spitting at Prescott. The video shows Prescott, with two Cowboys offensive linemen in front of him, spitting in Carter and the Eagles' defense's direction with what appeared to be a smirk.
Prescott and Carter exchanged words, then Carter spat on Prescott, the video showed.
The Cowboys quarterback said after the game he spat straight ahead as he normally does, only for his saliva to land near Carter.
"I probably spit a thousand times throughout the game, especially game day, maybe even in general," Prescott said. "It's something, I guess, I'm not proud of. In that case, he was trolling, or I guess you can say trying to mess with [rookie] Tyler Booker."
"I was just looking at him. I was right here by the two linemen, and I guess I needed to spit," Prescott added. "I wasn't going to spit on my linemen. I just spit ahead."
Carter allegedly asked Prescott, "You trying to spit on me?"
"He was insulting me," Prescott said. "I wouldn't spit on somebody. I'm definitely not trying to spit on you. We're about to play a game."
Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni said Monday that any discipline levied against Carter by the team would remain "private, regardless if you see it or not" on Sunday in a Super Bowl LIX rematch against the Chiefs.
Tom Dougherty
Tom Dougherty is a digital content producer for CBS Philadelphia. Before joining CBS Philadelphia, Tom covered sports for NBC Sports Philadelphia. He currently covers breaking news and sports.