NFL says Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Justyn Ross can’t practice or attend games
Chiefs wide receiver Justyn Ross has been placed on the Commissioner’s Exempt List following his arrest in Shawnee earlier this week.
Ross is not allowed to practice or attend games. The Chiefs play at Denver on Sunday.
The NFL made the announcement on Friday while the Chiefs were practicing. The Commissioner’s Exempt List as a special player status used for unusual circumstances. The list includes players who have been declared by the commissioner Roger Goodell to be temporarily exempt from counting on their team’s 53-man active roster..
Andy Reid said Friday that general manager Brett Veach and Chris Shea, the Chiefs’ vice president for football operations and team counsel, dealt with the NFL on the matter.
“It’s to gather information,” Reid said. “You go through the process in these situations. You let it play out. That’s how we’re set up here, in this country, and in the NFL.”
Ross practiced with the Chiefs on Wednesday and Thursday after pleading not guilty Tuesday to two misdemeanor charges in Johnson County District Court. The bond was set at $2,500, and stipulations included no contact with the alleged victim, no alcohol or drug usage and no firearms.
Ross was charged with one count of domestic battery with no priors and one count of criminal damage to property totaling less than $1,000 after a Monday incident at a Shawnee apartment, according to a criminal complaint filed by the Johnson County District Attorney’s Office.
Ross’ next court date is Dec. 4.
Only the commissioner can decide who goes on the Commissioner’s Exempt List. Organizations have no say on who (or why) a player is so designated. A player on the list may, with permission, be present at the team’s facility on a reasonable basis for meetings, individual workouts, therapy and rehabilitation and other permitted non-football activities.
A second-year receiver out of Clemson, Ross has three catches for 34 yards in seven games played for the Chiefs this season. Ross entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent in 2022.
This story was originally published October 27, 2023 at 12:53 PM.