Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans has been suspended one game for his role in the fight that broke out between his team and the New Orleans Saints on Sunday.
Evans will miss this week's showdown with the Green Bay Packers - a rematch of the 2021 NFC Championship game.
The suspension was issued by NFL vice president of football operations Jon Runyan.
“After a play had ended, you were walking toward your sidelines. When you noticed your teammates engaged in a confrontation with Saints’ players, you ran toward that area on the field and violently threw your body into and struck an unsuspecting opponent who was part of that confrontatio," Runyan wrote. "You knocked your opponent to the ground and a melee ensued involving players from both teams.
"Your aggressive conduct could have caused serious injury to your opponent and clearly does not reflect the high standards of sportsmanship expected of a professional.”
NFL’s official announcement on Mike Evans’ one-game suspension. pic.twitter.com/DmsQ6Ro7au
Evans was considered a repeat offender after being suspended in 2017 for a similar incident. That suspension also came as a result of a dead-ball scuffle with Saints cornerback Marshon Lattimore.
On Sunday, Evans knocked Lattimore to the turf as the cornerback was jawing with Buccaneers star Tom Brady.
“It was a cheap shot,” Saints running back Mark Ingram said of Evans' hit on Lattimore. “For you to come in and blindside somebody, I mean, I don’t understand what you’re supposed to do? If somebody comes and just cheap-shots you, nobody respects that. ... As a man, as a player, you’ve got to be able to defend yourself in some form.”
Evans defended his actions after the win, stating he thought he saw Lattimore throw a
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