Lions' Suh doesn't care what others think of borderline dirty play
No one on the Bears knows Lions Pro Bowl defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh better than cornerback Zack Bowman, who played with him at Nebraska.
“Beast,” says Bowman, who considers Suh a good friend. “I watch him all the time, and it seems like every week he's getting hit with some kind of fine, whether it's late hits on the quarterback or face-masking or something. He's playing at a very high level.”
The question that has been asked, almost since the day Suh entered the league last season as the second overall draft pick, is whether his level of play is overly aggressive or out-and-out dirty.
Among his penalties last season was an unnecessary roughness call against a scrambling Jay Cutler, when Suh forearmed him in the back of the head. Suh, who was fined $15,000 for the Cutler hit, seems to have a special dislike for quarterbacks, but he doesn't discriminate.
“I think he has an intent to harm anybody he's in front of,” Bowman said. “That's just his attitude, that's his mentality. I had an opportunity this off-season to work out with him and that's just his focus, to go out there with the intent to — I wouldn't say to kill you — but at least to hurt you.
“Obviously that's the type of player that he wants to be in this league. He has a reputation for it, and it fits him well. Some teams do fear him, so that's his mindset.”
Suh says he's not out to hurt anyone, but if it happens, he's probably not going to lose sleep over it.
“For me personally, I don't like knocking people out (of the game),” he said. “I like rattling a quarterback and having him frustrated. If he unfortunately takes a tough hit, and he has to leave the game, so be it. That's not necessarily my concern.”
Bowman says the 6-foot-4, 307-pound Suh, whose first name is pronounced: en-dom-ah-ken, is a legitimately nice person off the field who does extensive charity work and is able to switch back and forth between his on-field and off-field personas.
“We go out to eat, we hang out, and we have a good time,” Bowman said. “He's a nice guy. I don't know what he does on that field. He just turns into ‘The Hulk.'”
There's already plenty of evidence on YouTube.com of Suh's “Hulkish” side. In this year's preseason opener, the reigning defensive rookie of the year grabbed Bengals rookie quarterback Andy Dalton around the head and body-slammed him, drawing a $20,000 fine. Last year he grabbed the inside of quarterback Jake Delhomme's helmet and then tackled him by the head, which cost him $7,500.
But Suh said his former Cornhuskers teammate Bowman provides an accurate portrayal of him as a player and a person.
“He knows that at any point in time I can obviously flip it on and off,” Suh said. “It's something that I'm able to control my aggression and the things that I do on the football field. I'm not that same person when I'm walking around the street, and I don't carry myself as the baddest dude walking around or whatever.”
On a conference call with Chicago media on Thursday, the soft-spoken Suh offered no apologies and gave no indication that he planned to change his approach.
“I really don't have a concern of whether people think I may have crossed (the line) or not,” he said. “I don't teeter-totter around that line. I play very hard and aggressive. That's how I got to where I am today by playing blue-collar football and really being physical.
“I'm going to continue to play that way. That's one of the reasons I'm able to be successful. People are entitled to their opinion.”
While he's not overbearing about it, Suh also seems to have a very favorable opinion of himself, something that Cutler would agree with.
“Just ask him,” Cutler said. “He'll tell you all about himself.”
ŸFollow Bob's Bears reports via Twitter @BobLeGere and check out our Bear Essentials blog at dailyherald.com.