Suh favours training on his own, although absence could irk franchise.
Detroit Lions coach Jim Caldwell has insisted that neither the coaching staff nor the players are all that surprised by Ndamukong Suh not showing up for voluntary workouts.
The 27-year-old is known to favour training on his own at this time of the year, and while there are signs from new coach Caldwell that he would prefer to have him present, the general feeling is that as long as Suh arrives in top condition, then there is no issue.
“It certainly didn’t blindside me,” Caldwell said, as reported by ESPN.
“We certainly knew. He and I have probably had more discussions than any player that we’ve had on the team. He’s been in and out. I think he was here on a couple days when I came on a visit, so we kind of knew exactly what was going on.”
Caldwell added that he would want “every single minute with every single player” but the rules don’t always allow that to be the case, as he declined to go into further detail about what Suh’s absence would mean moving forward.
The defensive tackle is in the final year of his rookie contract and team president Tom Lewand has revealed that they will likely begin discussions with his agent to work on an extension.
As noted by the media, there is no link between contract negotiations and Suh’s absence, and it is worth remembering that he has missed voluntary workouts in previous seasons too.
Suh had 49 tackles last season and 5.5 sacks which resulted in him building up an overall record of 185 tackles, 27.5 sacks and an interception in his four years with the franchise thus far.
As a result, it appears as though his current schedule works well and benefits the organisation regardless of their preference, but it does seem as though Suh’s attendance is very much desired.
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