Ndamukong Suh will get his chance to appeal his suspension for stepping on Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
But his teammates are already weighing in, saying that years of bad behavior aren’t a factor.
“We’re frustrated by the whole situation,” defensive end Darryl Tapp said, via Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. “Like I said, we don’t feel like it was intentional. We all know what kind of person Suh is. He hasn’t been in any kind of trouble this year, so just something we got to take it as it comes and move forward.”
Lions players were watching film getting ready for the Cowboys when coach Jim Caldwell pulled Suh out to tell him about the suspension, then telling his teammates.
Suh does have the benefit of having an appeal before Ted Cottrell, who overturned Ed Reed’s suspension in 2012.
Some of his teammates tried to defend the step as accidental, but with Rodgers dealing with a well-publicized calf injury, that seems too coincidental to be believed.
The Lions can only hope Cottrell buys it.