The Oakland Raiders have a big game in London coming up as they play the Chicago Bears in front of English fans. However, they will have to play with middle linebacker Vontaze Burfict having to watch from the stands.
Adam Schefter of ESPN confirmed in a tweet that Burfict will be suspended — likely for multiple games — for his recent helmet-to-helmet hit on Colts tight end Jack Doyle. It's yet unknown how the Raiders will address the hole in their roster.
Raiders LB Vontaze Burfict will be suspended as early as today for his hit on Colts TE Jack Doyle, per sources. Based on his history, it is likely to be multi-games.
2018
4 games for PED violation2017
4 games for hit on Anthony Sherman2016
4 games for hit on Antonio Brown.— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 30, 2019
The referees ejected Burfict for the unnecessary headbutt on Doyle. Video replays of the incident show that the 29-year-old deliberately made the hit. It can also be seen that he was bracing for impact.
KICK VONTAZE BURFICT OUT FOREVER!!! pic.twitter.com/91IQghasuf
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) September 29, 2019
Like Schefter reported in his tweet, this isn't the first time that Burfict will be suspended over his rough style of defense. Lakisha Wesseling reviewed the ten times he was suspended in the league.
Six have been due to violations of player safety rules. He was suspended the first three games of the 2016 season for multiple player safety violations and he missed another three games in 2017 for a hit on a defenseless player (a suspension that was reduced from an original five).
It's a big shame that Vontaze's suspension put a nasty smear on an otherwise superb win for the Raiders. Sure, the stars aligned for the Raiders. The Colts dropped the ball plenty of times. Key players missed time.
However, that doesn't take away from the impressive effort the team put to win the game. It was a spectacular team effort that helped them get the win.
Now, Jon Gruden will have to work out how he will address the gaping hole at the middle linebacker spot.