The system works.
Eric Smith appealed his one-game suspension for his helmet-to-helmet hit on Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Anquan Boldin last weekend. In the meantime, the Jets placed Smith on the reserve/suspended list and activated running back Jesse Chatman.
The appeal will be held on Tuesday and if Smith is able to overturn the ruling, the Green and White will have to make another move to get Chatman on the roster.
I doubt that the NFL will change its mind on the suspension. The hit received too much publicity and I'm sure the league wants to take a no nonsense stance on helmet-to-helmet hits. In an interesting twist, Cardinals safety Adrian Wilson blasted Buffalo's Trent Edwards early on in Sunday's game at Arizona. Edwards suffered a concussion and didn't return to the huddle. The NFL will be reviewing that play to see if
Wilson was guilty of "unnecessary acts against a passer."
Chatman served a four-game suspension for violating the league's substance abuse policy. The addition of Chatman will give Gang Green a little more flexibility in the backfield. For some reason, the Jets were going with only two running backs on their roster -- Thomas Jones and Leon Washington. Why? Great question. For some reason, Eric Mangini wants to carry four quarterbacks -- Brett Favre, Kellen Clemens, Brett Ratliff and Erik Ainge. Your guess is as good as mine.
The ruling should be swift and I think Smith will be on the losing side.
And that means that Abram Elam will get the start at safety when the Jets host the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday.
Leave a comment
Pennington doesn't look too bad down there in Miami. Maybe the Dolphins won't be the cellar dwellers everyone thought. They've already improved their record from last year.