Linebacker Thomas Davis has been suspended for 2 games following a hit on Davante Adams. Davis will be appealing the suspension.
Panthers’ LB Thomas Davis is being suspended two games, per sources. He will appeal.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 18, 2017
Davis’ suspension was announced by the league Monday. They informed him of the suspension via letter from NFL vice president of football operations Jon Runyan.
“You have been previously fined for violations of safety-related rules. Your actions yesterday warrant an escalation of discipline, not only because they were flagrant, but also because of your status as a repeat offender.”
Adams, who sustained his second concussion of the season, took to twitter to accuse Davis of head hunting.
I’ll never understand it. Game is already dangerous enough and we got Pro Bowl players out here head hunting and saying they “didn’t mean to harm me”
— Davante Adams (@tae15adams) December 18, 2017
Head coach Ron Rivera however was not convinced Davis made the block with malicious intent.
“If you see Thomas’ reaction to the hit that he made, you know that it wasn’t intentional to hit him that way. It was intentional that he wanted to block him, and I just take it from the way he reacted — he did not intend to hit him high or in the head.”
Davis is a key piece to the Panthers defense, as he and middle linebacker Luke Kuechly make up one of the best linebacker tandems in the league. With Carolina at 10-4 they are still in the thick of the wild card race and would need Davis. The Lions, Seahawks, and Cowboys are all gunning for the Panthers spot as all 3 teams currently have 8-6 records. The Panthers play division rival Atlanta Falcons, currently the 6th seed, week 16.
