Packers' Josh Jacobs Stays on Paid Leave as Police Withhold Battery-Case Video From NFL

Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs will remain on paid leave for the foreseeable future after police in Wisconsin confirmed they are still withholding the pivotal video from the incident that led to his guilty plea on a battery charge.

According to reporting by Danielle Lerner of USA Today, highlighted by NBC Sports on Thursday, the NFL has still not been given access to the key piece of video generated by the incident. The Hobart-Lawrence Police Department is delaying release of the records to both the league and the media. Last month, the judge in the case lifted a temporary court order sealing the evidence but ruled the department could apply a balancing test weighing the rights of the public, the defendant and the victim.

In an October 13 letter to USA Today, Hobart-Lawrence police chief Michael Renkas explained that although the department determined it could release some records with appropriate redactions, it must wait because lawyers in the case intend to seek a new court order blocking disclosure. He stressed the temporary hold was not a denial of the request.

Some around the league believe Jacobs could return soon, with the games he has missed credited toward any suspension. But the NFL is unlikely to let him play before seeing the video — the league learned from the Ray Rice elevator-video controversy in September 2014 that closing a personal-conduct case without viewing the evidence is a risk it will not take again.