Bears’ Jeremiah Ratliff Suspended By NFL … For DUI Arrest Two Years Ago

He pled guilty to the DWI charge in May and was given one year of probation and fined.

It also presents a big problem because of the running backs the Bears will be playing in the first three games.

The Chicago Bears’ Jeremiah Ratliff will not be appealing the penalty he received for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy. He is eligible to participate in all preseason practices and games, including Saturday’s game at Cincinnati. Since joining the Bears midway through the 2013 season, he has appeared in 16 games with 15 starts, recording 55.2 tackles and eight sacks. He was a Pro Bowler while with Dallas in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011.

“That’s all behind me”, Ratliff said Monday.

But even with Ratliff on the back part of his career at age 33 (he turns 34 in a week), this is a tough blow for a team that has a lot of questions and a brutal early schedule. “It’s something we’ve known about for a while”. “This was about what… two, three years ago”.

Second-round pick Eddie Goldman will likely be the guy to take Ratliff’s spot on the first line.

“Just move on”, Ratliff said of his reaction to the situation. I’m good. We all knew this was coming. “This is the result of it, and just moving forward from here”.

“Sometimes it doesn’t help the cause”, Fox said.

“We’ve been down his road with the NFL and they don’t care to hear it. So be it”, he said.

Ratliff didn’t want to go into whether he thought it was a fair suspension considering the incident happened in 2013. “It’s not going to change anything for me”.