Ndamukong Suh is kicking himself, partly for his poor judgment during his game on Thanksgiving Day against the Packers, but more for the negative perception of his character right now. After Suh took down Packers offensive lineman, Evan Dietrich-Smith, he continued to push Dietrich-Smith’s head in the ground and as he got up, Suh gave the forearm of Dietrich-Smith a little kiss with his cleat.

Suh tried to blame the stomp on his poor balance, but even the women in the room watching the game with me on Thanksgiving knew better than to believe such malarkey.

Suh is an emotional player and ever since Pop Warner, I am sure he has been taught to play like an animal. I like to see this kind of ferociousness out of my players on the field, but what I do not like seeing is them making plays that have nothing to do with the game, but still may cost the season. Suh needs to channel his inner beast to play at the top of his game, but sometimes he does not know how to control this power.

He needs to learn how to play hard and furious without making stupid plays that conclude with fines and suspensions. The Lions need Suh to play at his best, but if that causes him to miss games, then it is not worth it.

There are plenty of players like Suh who play the game with a rage, such as Terrell Suggs, Ray Lewis, and James Harrison, but they know the lines to a certain extent.

What Suh needs to do is stop worrying about what people think about him. His lying about plays that make him look dirty is what has the media talking the most. If he just accepted his role as the villain on the gridiron like the aforementioned defenders, then he would be much more respected.

Suh is a good guy, which is exemplified through his constant community service work, but he can still be portrayed as a bad guy on the field without that hurting his off the field image.

Suh has to own up to his dirty plays and try and tone them down a bit and he will join the list of respected and most importantly, feared, defenders in the league.