Bills DB Sam Franklin Jr. gets one-game suspension, plans appeal
The NFL suspended Buffalo defensive back Sam Franklin Jr. for one game over an alleged spitting incident against Las Vegas; Franklin denies it and intends to appeal
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Buffalo Bills defensive back Sam Franklin Jr. has been suspended without pay for one game after the NFL said he spat at a Las Vegas Raiders opponent during Sunday's game. Franklin denies the allegation and plans to appeal, according to Adam Schefter.
Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter): Bills DB Sam Franklin Jr. was suspended one game today for unsportsmanlike conduct that the league said was a spitting incident vs. the Las Vegas Raiders.
The discipline gives Buffalo another defensive-back availability issue to track this week, but an appeal means the suspension should not be treated as a settled absence for the next game. The league's finding and Franklin's account are in direct conflict; the available reports do not resolve what happened on the field.
The case is separate from the league's one-game suspension of Bills defensive back C.J. Gardner-Johnson following a spitting incident against the same opponent. Two Buffalo defensive backs have now drawn discipline out of the Raiders game, an unusual concentration of conduct cases from a single matchup. Franklin's response is not a denial on Gardner-Johnson's behalf.
The appeal is the next procedural step; the reporting does not establish when it will be heard or whether the penalty will be upheld.