The NFL officially announced on Monday that it had suspended Tennessee Titans defensive end Teair Tart for violating unnecessary roughness and unsportsmanlike conduct rules.
Tart will miss one game after stepping on Cleveland Browns guard Wyatt Teller’s right knee. Tart was running back upfield from the pocket on the play, and Tart stepped on his knee.
The violation occurred with 8:25 remaining in the second quarter.
Tart is set to serve a one-game suspension, which he is reportedly expected to appeal. The appeal will likely be heard within the next couple days, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.
If Tart loses the appeal, he’ll be eligible to return to Tennessee’s active roster on Dec. 14 after the Titans’ upcoming game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Teair Tart of the Tennessee Titans and Shawn Williams of the Cincinnati Bengals have each been suspended without pay for one game for violations of unnecessary roughness and unsportsmanlike conduct rules. pic.twitter.com/ws6oDsSk2e
— Michael Signora (@NFLfootballinfo) December 7, 2020
#Bengals S Shawn Williams and #Titans DE Teair Tart are both expected to appeal their one-game suspensions, per sources. Those likely will be heard in the next couple days.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) December 7, 2020
There was room for Tart to have avoided this whole conundrum, as Broadway Sports Media’s John Glennon notes in his explanation of what happened on the play here:
As Tart was running back upfield from the pocket, he stepped on the back of Wyatt Teller's right knee. Teller, who'd blocked Tart on that play, was lying down face-first at the time. Tart certainly had plenty of room to avoid Teller.#Titans https://t.co/kK5m50ofvf
— John Glennon (@glennonsports) December 8, 2020
Teair Tart stepping on Wyatt Teller, for which he was suspended for a week. #Titans. pic.twitter.com/MScZmG5xA0
— Paul Kuharsky (@PaulKuharskyNFL) December 8, 2020
