With 09:16 left in the third quarter, after the Lions stopped the Packers on third-and-goal, Suh tangled with Dietrich-Smith as both players went to the ground. Suh pressed head of Dietrich-Smith in the turf three times, got up and stepped on his right arm as he walked away from the pile.
Suh was penalized and deported, the Packers got a first down and scored two plays later to break a seven-point game and went on to hand the Lions their eighth straight Thanksgiving loss, 27-15.
After the match, Suh has defended his actions, saying: "my intentions were not kick anyone" and that officials "interpreted" his stomp.
"I was on top of a boy being pulled and trying to get up off the ground and because you see me pushing his helmet down (is) because I am trying to remove myself from the situation, and how I am getting up, I'm getting pushed, so I'm on balance and get out of the situation," said Suh. "With this, a lot of people are going to interpret it as, create their own lines of history to see what they want to interpret it. But I know what I did, and the man upstairs knows what I did. "
Suh likely faces a fine for the game and could be suspended, too.
Defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth was suspended five games in 2006 for stomping on the face of Andre Gurode. Haynesworth has played for the Tennessee Titans, where Lions coach Jim Schwartz was defensive coordinator at the time.
This year, Minnesota Vikings defensive end Brian Robison was fined $ 20,000 but not suspended for kicking Packers offensive lineman, T.J. Lang in the groin. Robison apologized Lang, Vikings and alloy on Twitter on the night of the accident.
Suh, who was fined three times prior to the game rough, was defiant after the game.
"I am, first of all, just going to apologize to my teammates, my coaches and my true fans to allow arbitrators to have the opportunity to take me out of this game," he said.
Lions coach Jim Schwartz said after the game, he has not seen the incident and had not yet seen a replay. Suh, on his way off the field after his expulsion, he insisted that he was just trying to get rid from the pile, he said.
"Regardless of what it is our intent, we cannot put ourselves in that position," said Schwartz.
Schwartz was disappointed Suh put himself in that position?
"It is difficult to say that you're disappointed when someone's intent is to get out of the situation," said Schwartz. "But can not leave any grey area and can not give any reason for an official make that call."
Suh said that it has "no clue" as a discipline to expect from the League.
"This is their decision," he said after the game. "I can't talk about this. I don't have a decision on that. "
Mike Pereira, former vice President of officiating for the NFL and now an analyst for Fox, called "dirty" in a column Suh Suh history discipline implied and foxsports.com will factor in the decision of whether to suspend him.
Along with his previous fines, Suh has asked for a meeting with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell during bye week the Lions to gain a better understanding "of how they want to look honestly my plays and several things that I did."
Suh said on Dan Patrick show earlier this month that the meeting encouraged him to be "more aggressive and more physical" and that he and Goodell "agree to disagree (d) in certain situations."
Pereira wrote that "the question is not if the NFL will suspend Suh, but when — and for those games."
And former Lions offensive tackle Damien Woody, now an analyst with ESPN, said the "Mike and Mike Show" this morning that it expects Suh be suspended two games.
The Lions, 7-4 and in the thick of the NFC wildcard race, play the New Orleans Saints next Sunday in a playoff game with serious implications. They also have games with the Minnesota Vikings, Oakland Raiders, San Diego Chargers and a rematch with the Packers left.
"When I saw the game as a player, the first thing I thought was selfish as can you be?" Woody said. "It was just a stupid game, selfish, for its part, because not only is cost the team a personal foul penalty, but you're ejected from the game. You are one of the best D-tackle in the National Football League, now do not have your services for the rest of the game. Not only that, worsen
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