Detroit Lions safety Brian Branch has had his one-game suspension without pay upheld after an attempted appeal, it was announced Wednesday night.
The discipline was handed down after the Lions starting safety struck Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster following Detroit’s 30-17 loss in Kansas City Sunday night.
He set off a small scuffle after brushing off a handshake from quarterback Patrick Mahomes, following the final whistle. Smith-Schuster appeared to take umbrage to the gesture and approached him with a hand extended and Branch proceeded to smack him with an open hand.
Lions coach Dan Campbell quickly called Branch’s actions “inexcusable” after the game and apologized to the Chiefs, coach Andy Reid and Smith-Schuster in his postgame press conference.
“He knows it. Our team knows it. So, that’s not what we do,” Campbell said.
Branch also apologized in the locker room calling his own decision “childish” but indicated he felt Chiefs players were trying to “bully” him with Smith-Schuster laying out an illegal block in the back that received no attention from officials.
“In-between the play and refs don’t catch it, they were trying to bully me out there,” Branch said. ”I got blocked in the back illegally, and it was in front of the ref. But the ref didn’t do anything — just stuff like that. I could have got hurt off of that.
The hearing officer for Branch’s appeal was former Green Bay Packers wide receiver Jordy Nelson, jointly appointed by the NFL and the NFL Players Association.
The decision means Branch will miss Monday night’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with the Lions already missing numerous key members of their secondary.
Fellow safety Kerby Joseph is battling a knee injury that’s seen him exit multiple games this season while starting cornerbacks Terrion Arnold and D.J. Reed are out due to injury.
The third-year safety will be eligible to return to the team’s active roster the day after the game against Tampa Bay. With the Lions set for a bye the following week, the earliest Branch will return to the field is Nov. 2 against the Minnesota Vikings.
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