Soon-to-be free agent defensive tackle Nick Fairley is in court in Mobile, Alabama, today as his trial for driving under the influence and reckless driving gets underway.
The trial stems from a 2012 arrest when police pulled Fairley over on Interstate-10. He is accused of being legally drunk while driving 100 miles an hour.
Fairley was the Lions’ first-round draft pick in 2011 and has spent his entire career in Detroit, but he is expected to sign elsewhere this offseason. The Lions declined to pick up the fifth-year option on Fairley’s rookie contract, and they’re making a new deal for Ndamukong Suh their top offseason priority.
After the trial ends, Fairley could face NFL discipline. A two-game suspension is the standard discipline for a DUI conviction under the league’s new substance-abuse policy.