In the wake of his immature stomping incident on Thanksgiving Day that was accompanied by an embarrassing apology, Ndamukong Suh is expected to be suspended at least two games. Suh obviously has a problem controlling his temper, and it has hurt his team in the past by way of unsportsmanlike conduct and unnecessary roughness penalties. When he is inevitably suspended for his latest outburst, it could contribute to the Lions missing the playoffs.
Without Suh, Detroit’s defense could play with less intensity and will certainly be weaker along the front seven. Despite some rumblings that there are Lions players who believe Suh deserved to be suspended, Chris McCosky of the Detroit News says it was more a case of Suh’s teammates expecting him to be given more than just a fine, not thinking he should.
“He’s going to have to learn to control his temper,” defensive tackle Corey Williams said. “They always get the second guy. That’s something he’s got to learn. If they hit you, knock you down, whatever they do, you can always get them back on the next play.”
Teammates said they were angry that the penalty cost them on third down in the red zone, but acknowledged that they believe Suh has been a frequent target of cheap shots. While they believe he needs to learn to better control his temper and prevent incidents like this one from happening, it would be a stretch to think Detroit players wanted arguably their most important defensive presence to be out for the next two-plus games.
