NFL Reviewing Suh's Block For Potential Discipline
DETROIT (AP) — Ndamukong Suh might've gotten himself in trouble with another nasty play on the field.
Suh's illegal low block in Detroit's game on Sunday against Minnesota will be reviewed for potential discipline, NFL spokesman Randall Liu confirmed Monday in an email to The Associated Press.
Suh, a Lions defensive tackle, hit Vikings center John Sullivan during an interception return and the penalty against him negated a touchdown during Detroit's 34-24 win. Suh said he wasn't going after Sullivan's knees, adding the two talked about it at halftime.
"I spoke to him, we're good," Suh said after Sunday's game. "So that's all that matters."
Sullivan said afterward the hit was part of the game and it was penalized, and on Monday he didn't seem interested in fanning the flames.
"He apologized and said there was no intent to injure. It's fine," he said. "I think guys get caught up in the play sometimes. So, sometimes things happen. It's hard to even remember what you do when you get caught up in the moment. I appreciate the fact that he came up to me and said something, yeah."
Minnesota defensive lineman Jared Allen said there's no place for that type of hit.
"I got to know Suh at the Pro Bowl last year, and he's a good dude, but that's uncalled for," Allen told reporters Sunday in Detroit. "This is a fraternity. In the NFL, you try and take care of guys. Granted, things happen and guys are going to make hits and some things are going to be borderline. But you can't take a dude's legs out from behind on an interception when he's running down the field."
Lions players weren't available Monday, but coach Jim Schwartz talked about the hit, which took place behind the play when Sullivan appeared to have no chance to catch linebacker DeAndre Levy, who was heading to the end zone after his interception.
"I talked to (Suh) on the field about it, because obviously it cost us," Schwartz said. "I don't think it was any attempt to injure or things like that. It wasn't 40 yards behind the play. It wasn't hitting a guy from behind — some of the things that we've seen from some other players recently, going low and hitting guys from behind. In my mind, the biggest thing was taking some momentum away from us at that point, and also taking that score off the board."
The NFL fined Suh $30,000 last year for unnecessary roughness because he kicked Houston quarterback Matt Schaub in the groin area. He was suspended for two games in 2011 after he stomped on Green Bay's Evan Dietrich-Smith.
Suh has also been fined in previous seasons for roughing up quarterbacks: Cincinnati's Andy Dalton, Chicago's Jay Cutler and Cleveland's Jake Delhomme.
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