In our jubilation over the Green Bay Packers’ win over the New York Giants, we forgot about Mike Pennel. The Packers forgot about him on Monday too, releasing the defensive tackle.
Pennel was eligible to return from his second suspension of the season for the Packers’ wild card game. In fact, we had been waiting for them to make a roster move to activate Pennel last week. They obviously never did, as Pennel wasn’t added to the roster for the Giants’ game.
We had a feeling the Packers might part ways with Pennel at some point, but it’s a surprise that they’ve decided to do so in the midst of whatever playoff run they’re currently making.
Keeping Pennel on the field has been the issue this year.
He was suspended for the first four games of the season for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy. Then he got suspended for the last four games of the year for the same thing. Pennel was lucky that second suspension was only four games, as it was a repeat violation. It was probably so few because Pennel sued the league.
In the eight games he played this season, Pennel had seven tackles and defended one pass. He was better in 2015, with 25 tackles, a sack and a forced fumble.
Obviously, whatever talent Pennel possessed wasn’t enough to offset his personal issues for the Packers.
Hell, you’re obviously not fully committed to football and the team if you repeatedly violate the substance abuse policy.
