Mayhew acknowledges not enough people talked to Suh

It’s dawned on the Detroit Lions that maybe they didn’t do enough to prevent Ndamukong Suh from combusting this past season.

That’s the conclusion general manager Martin Mayhew reached when he visited with The 2 Live Stews on 790-AM in Atlanta.

“It’s funny how things go,” Mayhew said, according to the Detroit Free-Press. “I think, early on, he had a couple of borderline sort of plays and, looking back on it, probably not enough people talked to him in those situations. And then when this thing happened, probably too many people talked to him. He had everybody -- the guy driving the bus to the games had an opinion on what Ndamukong needed to do. I got letters from every sports psychologist and counselor in the Detroit metro area. He had so much input, it was probably too much.”

Suh was suspended for two games after stomping on the arm of Green Bay Packers guard Evan Dietrich-Smith in a Thanksgiving Day game at Ford Field. He’d piled up penalties in his first 1 ½ seasons in the NFL.

The Lions finally realized they had a problem after the suspension. Mayhew said he spoke to Suh about the incident but wouldn’t share details about the meeting. Down the stretch, Suh avoided any costly 15-yard penalties.

“Ndamukong’s a very, very intelligent person, intelligent football player," Mayhew said. "He has a really solid foundation. Great family, great network of support around him. And he’s going to come through this thing. He’s actually come through it, as far as I’ve seen. He came back with a great attitude, played great down the stretch, and we’re going to put this behind him and move forward next year.”

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Brad Biggs covers the Bears for the Chicago Tribune