Raiola says stomp was not intentional
CHICAGO --Detroit Lions center Dominic Raiola said his stepping on the leg of theBears' Ego Ferguson was "not intentional" and that he did not see the defensive lineman on the ground.
Raiola was caught on tape stepping on Ferguson's ankle during the third quarter of Detroit's 20-14 victory.
"It was totally unintentional," Raiola said. "I remember I was stumbling out. I didn't see the end of it. I apologized at the end of the game, told him it was unintentional and we shook hands and that was it."
Raiola also said he explained what happened to Chicago offensive lineman Roberto Garza, one of his friends, and told Garza to tell Ferguson again that it was unintentional.
Raiola said he felt something when he stepped down on what ended up being Ferguson and that his ankle almost rolled on him when he ended up making contact with Ferguson's leg. Lions coach Jim Caldwell said he would need to see the tape of it, but "from what I understand, that was inadvertent. He apologized to the guy. They shook hands."
Ferguson ended up coming back into the game after initially having to leave the game. After the game, Ferguson had a different interpretation of what happened.
"Y'all saw the play," Ferguson said. "I don't have to explain that. You need to stay in between the [whistles]."
He also didn't want to get into what Raiola said to him after the game.
"None of that matters," Ferguson said. "We all saw the play. You can't take back what happened with that play. That's the end of that."
One of Chicago's other defensive linemen, Jared Allen, said he saw what Raiola did and that he talked to him about it.
"He apologized to him at the end and the league will take up for it," Allen said. "There's no need for it.
"That's our guys' careers here. You can break someone's ankles."
Detroit also suspended running back Joique Bell for the first quarter of Sunday's game for what Caldwell deemed a "violation of team rules." Bell finished with 13 carries for 74 yards and a touchdown along with two catches for 13 yards.
