After a brutal helmet-to-helmet hit Sunday on Indianapolis Colts tight end Jack Doyle that was the latest in a series of “repeated violations of unnecessary roughness rules,” the NFL on Monday suspended Oakland Raiders linebacker Vontaze Burfict for the rest of the 2019 season, including the postseason.
“There were no mitigating circumstances on this play,” Jon Runyan, the NFL’s vice president of football operations, wrote in a statement. “Your contact was unnecessary, flagrant and should have been avoided. … You have continued to flagrantly abuse rules designated to protect yourself and your opponents from unnecessary risk.”
Burfict was ejected in the second quarter for the hit and the Raiders were first called for a 15-yard penalty. Upon review, he was ejected from the game and blew kisses to the crowd in Lucas Oil Stadium as he left the field.
Burfict has three business days in which to file an appeal that would be heard and decided by either Derrick Brooks or James Thrash, the officers chosen by the NFL and the NFL Players Association to decide incidents of on-field discipline. In 2017, Burfict’s five-game suspension for a hit on a defenseless player was reduced to three by Thrash.
On Monday, he was with the team, the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reports, when it arrived in London for Sunday’s game against the Chicago Bears. While his appeal is pending, he is not allowed to practice with the team or participate in any football activities.
Burfict, who spent the previous seven seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals, has been suspended 10 games, with six for violations of player safety rules. In addition to the three-game suspension in 2017, he was suspended for the first three games of the 2016 season for multiple player safety violations.
He also has been fined several times, with fines and game checks lost to suspension totaling more than $4 million. Three illegal hits last season drew fines of more than $165,000 and a warning that further hits would bring a suspension.
Burfict, 29, signed a one-year, $5 million contract with the Raiders in the offseason.
JETS: Quarterback Sam Darnold has been cleared by doctors for non-contact activities, but his availability for New York’s game at Philadelphia remains uncertain.
Coach Adam Gase said that Darnold can begin throwing footballs at practice this week but can’t yet lift weights as he continues to recover from a bout with mononucleosis that has sidelined him the past two games.
The uncertainty over Darnold’s health means Luke Falk could make his second straight start. He played in place of Darnold and the injured Trevor Siemian in Week 3 at New England before the Jets’ bye-week break.
BROWNS: Coach Freddie Kitchens wants more consistent NFL officiating after wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. was choked during Sunday’s game.
Beckham got into a skirmish with Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey, who pinned the three-time Pro Bowler and had his hands around his neck before being pulled away. Both players were assessed personal fouls, but neither was ejected.
Kitchens said he planned to reach out to the league about that situation in particular and officiating evenness in general.
GIANTS: Ryan Connelly, who had interceptions in his first two starts, is done for the season with a torn ACL in his right knee.
BRONCOS: Linebacker Bradley Chubb, the fifth overall pick in last year’s NFL draft, has a torn ACL and is done for the season.
BEARS: Quarterback Mitch Trubisky suffered a dislocated left shoulder and slightly torn labrum against the Vikings, ESPN reported Monday, citing an anonymous source. Trubisky reportedly is unlikely to play against the Raiders but does not need surgery.
CARDINALS: Arizona released starting safety D.J. Swearinger after a disappointing start to the season.
The seven-year veteran played in all four games this year and was fourth on the team with 28 tackles.
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