Nfl Suspends Lions Db Brian Branch 1 Game For Fight With Juju Smith-schuster After Loss To Chiefs

Detroit safety Brian Branch called his actions in the final seconds of the Lions' 30-17 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday night “childish.” Head coach Dan Campbell called them “inexcusable.”

The NFL deemed it worthy of a suspension.

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The league announced Monday that Branch will be suspended without pay for a single game after he smacked Chiefs wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster, triggering an on-field brawl in the final seconds of Sunday night’s contest at Arrowhead Stadium.

“Your aggressive, non-football act was entirely unwarranted, posed a serious risk of injury and clearly violated the standards of conduct and sportsmanship of NFL players,” NFL vice president of football operations Jon Runyan said in a letter to Branch. “Your conduct reflected poorly on the NFL and has no place in our game.”

Branch will appeal, according to NFL Network. Assuming the suspension is upheld, Branch will be eligible to return to the Lions’ active roster after their game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Oct. 20.

The two teams took the field at Arrowhead Stadium to shake hands as the final seconds were ticking off the clock Sunday night when things erupted. Branch reached out and smacked Smith-Schuster after blowing past Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who looked like he was trying to shake his hand, though Branch ignored him. 

That sparked a big brawl that escalated significantly before officials calmed things down. Smith-Schuster walked off the field holding a towel to his face, and Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said there was "pretty good damage" to his nose.

"I love Brian Branch," Campbell told reporters after the game, "but what he did is inexcusable. It's not going to be accepted here. It's not what we do, it's not what we're about. I apologized to [head] coach [Andy] Reid and the Chiefs and Schuster. That's not OK. That's not what we do here and it's not going be OK. He knows it and our team knows it. "

Branch spoke to reporters after the game and pointed toward an incident late in the fourth quarter where Smith-Schuster blocked him in the back hard, and wasn't called for a penalty. 

"I did a little childish thing, but I"m tired of people doing stuff in between the play and refs don't catch it," Branch said. "They be trying to bully me out there. I should've never did it. It was childish."

Branch, now in his fourth season in the league, has 33 total tackles this season. He had seven in Sunday's loss, which snapped a four-game win streak for the Lions. It's unclear if Smith-Schuster, who had three catches for 57 yards in the win for Kansas City, will face any discipline. The Chiefs, now 3-3, will host the Las Vegas Raiders next on Sunday.