Vontaze Burfict’s Suspension Reduced

Vontaze Burfict‘s suspension has been reduced to three games, Josina Anderson of ESPN.com tweets. The Bengals linebacker was slated for a five-game ban before his appeal hearing. 

Burfict found himself in hot water for his hit on Chiefs fullback Anthony Sherman earlier in the preseason. The linebacker tackled Sherman roughly four or five yards from the line of scrimmage and nailed him in the head/neck area. Sherman did not have the ball, nor was he the targeted receiver on the play. Whether intentional or not, the hit provoked the ire of the league office because it came in well above the jersey numbers.

“I hit harder than most of the other linebackers,” Burfict explained earlier this week (via Jim Owczarski of The Enquirer). “He kind of crunched up. I lowered my target, hit him straight in the chest. I talked to him the next series to see if he was alright and he said yeah, that’s a legal hit. You’ve got to keep your head on a swivel when you come across the middle and everybody knows that.”

Of course, Burfict has run afoul of league safety rules before. Over his five-year career, Burfict has racked up nearly $800K in fines and been flagged 16 times for unnecessary roughness, personal fouls or roughing the passer.

Burfict’s 2016 season was also shortened by a suspension. He finished out the year with 101 tackles and two sacks across eleven games.

The Bengals will be without Burfict for games against the Ravens, Texans, and Packers, but they’ll now have him in uniform for contests against the Browns and Bills.