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
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.
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.View on X →
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.