Falcons rip Suh for taunting Matt Ryan after third-quarter injury

[cruzg24]

We know that Detroit Lions super-tackle Ndamukong Suh doesn't have a lot of respect for quarterbacks — he's exhibited this through his NFL career with roughing the passer penalties that have been legit at times, and he's displayed a certain proclivity for twisting the heads of certain Ohio-based quarterbacks (specifically, Cleveland's Jake Delhomme in 2010 and Cincinnati's Andy Dalton in 2011) as if they were bottle tops. But according to several members of the Atlanta Falcons' offense, Suh took things way too far after Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan was injured on a freak play in the third quarter of the Falcons' 23-16 win at Detroit's Ford Field.

The play, which had Ryan in obvious pain after his right ankle bent in a bad way after he tripped over tackle Will Svitek. Ryan came off the field and returned to action shortly thereafter, but per Jeff Schultz of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Suh and at least one teammate went over the line verbally.

"I had respect for Suh before the game," Falcons center Todd McClure(notes) said after the game. "But when Matt was on the ground, the things he was saying and the trash he was talking was definitely uncalled for. There are certain things you don't do. [He said], 'Get the cart' and several other things that I can't repeat."

Receiver Roddy White(notes) agreed. "I lost a whole lot of respect for 90 [Suh] today, and also 92 [Cliff Avril(notes)], the [bleep] they were doing when Matt got hurt. That was unacceptable. … Like 92 was kicking [Ryan's] feet, saying, 'Get him off the field.' We don't do stuff like that. We don't rally over guys when they get hurt. It was just inappropriate behavior. I mean, 'Get the cart'? Are you serious? Come on. When you compete, you never want to see a guy get hurt."

Suh had no specific comment about his alleged comments, saying only that he was disappointed in the Lions' second straight loss, and remarking that his run defense isn't what it should be. Ryan just said that he didn't hear whatever Suh and Avril were saying, which makes sense — you tend to not hear a lot when you're in that much pain.

Avril had this to say via his Twitter account:
Come on I'm not in the business of hurting not one guy on the field... I would never taunt anyone on an injury...But if we want to talk about dirty players look at the film and see who prides themselves on being dirty...
So, that really didn't help.

While the Lions allegedly showed less than ideal class, Ryan proved his toughness. "Well, when I first came to the sideline, I didn't know, because I wanted to make sure the trainers had a chance to look at it—want to be smart in those situations," Ryan said of the injury. "Once I came back in and was able to get it taped and move around on it, I knew I was going to be fine. So, I came back out and told [head coach] Mike [Smith] I was going to be good to go, then came in on third down."

Smith put it more succinctly: His quarterback showed why the Falcons are comfortable putting the franchise in Ryan's hands. "It just shows you the resolve and the resiliency of this guy. He got whacked pretty good; we had to take him into the locker room and really get a good examination. When I saw him coming out of the tunnel, I was trying like crazy to see if we could get him back out there for that third down. Can you go?

"And Matt said, 'Hey, I need to just see if I can put some pressure on it.' He just took a shot and said, 'Hey, I'm ready to go.' He goes out there, and his first play back, he completes a third-down conversion."

Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford, who has faced a number of injury concerns in his short career, also was hurt in the game. "A guy just fell on me a little bit awkward. I'm moving around on it okay right now. We'll see," Stafford said of his leg injury. But Jay Glazer of Fox Sports reported on Sunday afternoon that Stafford was wearing a walking boot and will have an MRI on Monday.

Source: yahoosports.com

 

[DJT]

Suh sounds like a douche IMO. I know there are a lot of Detroit fans on here that will probably give me crap for that, but it sounds like most the NFL would agree with me.

I don't think he intends to be one though, I think his emotions in the game just take over and he loses a lot of control.

 

[jonathanlambert33]

No reason to taunt a injured player.

 

[elcheato]

It's clearly the right way to play

 

[Giantmetfan07]

So? They're assholes. Get over it.


Sometimes in the NFL players try to develop that reputation as a badass. And they gotta be the biggest asshole on the field.

Now im not saying this is the best way to be a badass, because its pretty fucked up. But I can understand what these guys are trying to do.

 

[WHO-DEY-BENGALS_18]

Well, if that's the case it looks like karma came back to them with Stafford getting injured on the last offensive series for the Lions.

 

[Giantmetfan07]

true. But I mean, i understand the taunting while he's injured is a jackass thing to do. But to stand up and be like "WAHHH WAHHHH!! PUNISH THEM!!! WAAHHH". I mean seriously, stfu. It's football, not ballet.

But like you said, it's karma. Instead of bitching, they hit the Lions' qb. Obviously it wasn't intentional on Stafford, it just happened to be an awkward fall, but nonetheless thats the better way of handling it. Just kick their asses instead of whining about it.

 

[RipCity32]

Only reason it is a big deal is because it is Suh lol.

Once again, hate to not have him on your team, love him if he was on your team.

 

[Falcons11497]

Why people saying this stuff now when no one said anything about the Packers' (specifically Aaron Rodgers) whining after they beat us this year
im tired of all the bitching tho...

 

[jonathanlambert33]

Only reason it is a big deal is because it is Suh lol.

Once again, hate to not have him on your team, love him if he was on your team.

I don't agree with taunting a injured player, but I wish Suh was on the Saints.

Sed and Suh? OMG...

Here's a fun fact, Suh ranks #1 among DT's with 17 QB pressures, and Sed is #2 with 12.

 

[Pugz]

taunting isnt ever good but it helps hype your team up. everyone does it at some point. people just continue to knock on suh. do it all you want. sure, hes an animal on the field but the dude is a teddy bear off.

 

[SaintFan25]

Sed and Suh? OMG...

*jizz in pants*

 

[WHO-DEY-BENGALS_18]

taunting isnt ever good but it helps hype your team up. everyone does it at some point. people just continue to knock on suh. do it all you want. sure, hes an animal on the field but the dude is a teddy bear off.

Yeah... It also gives the opposing team extra motivation...

 

[Pugz]

yea, and you should always have it in your mindset already that your team is better so that should bother you..

 

[cruzg24]

Its interesting how all these occurences are happening around Suh, the Delhomme and Dalton thing. This taunting stuff, idk something just doesnt seem right. There's a difference between being motivated and confident and being a little overboard. I wonder where that line is and how often Suh has crossed it.

Ray Lewis has a lot of passion and fire and he's looking to shut people down, but you never hear other players saying bad things about him.

 

[Pugz]

i do think hes crossed the line but people are blowing this up way more than it should be. keep in mind this is a MAN game, not a little boy game.

 

[RipCity32]

At the end of the day, Suh just really doesn't give a shit lol.
As he said, he doesn't need or want White's approval.

 

[swoosh]

Classless, but it's whatever. At the end of the day, the Falcons won.

 

[WHO-DEY-BENGALS_18]

Classless, but it's whatever. At the end of the day, the Falcons won.

Well, your QB said it never happened so who knows. Maybe he was just trying to avoid controversy, hard saying.

 

[Lake Louise]

i do think hes crossed the line but people are blowing this up way more than it should be. keep in mind this is a MAN game, not a little boy game.

Nowadays, it's MEN playing a little boys game.