It's been an up and down couple of days for Detroit Lions running back Mikel Leshoure. On Wednesday, Leshoure was suspended two games by the NFL for his pair of offseason arrests. On Thursday, Leshoure took part in a full practice for the first time since tearing his Achilles last year. He got to carry the ball and show that he has made a good deal of progress in rehabbing his injury.
After practice, Leshoure showed that he has made some progress off the field by talking about his suspension and saying that he has learned his lesson.
"I'm definitely not happy about it, I would love to be out there with my team," he said. "I understand the consequences you have to face when you do wrong. I know one thing for sure, one thing for certain, I definitely learned from my mistakes."
Leshoure is planning to be ready for the start of training camp in July. There has been some talk that he could land on the PUP list, but considering he had a full practice today, that seems unlikely to happen unless there is a setback. (By the way, Dave Birkett reports that even if Leshoure does land on the PUP list, his suspension is for the first two games of the season. In other words, he'd be eligible to play once he's eligible to come off the PUP list.)
As for Leshoure's suspension, it is final, according to Birkett. Because it was for a violation of the substance abuse policy, the appeals process happened behind the scenes and before an official announcement was made.
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