News came out yesterday that Green Bay defensive lineman Mike Pennel is suing the National Football League over a substance abuse suspension. If you remember, Pennel received a four-game suspension to start the 2016 season. This would be his second offense, which comes with a six or 10 game suspension behind it. He’s the second player to file a lawsuit with the league for a substance abuse violation. Lane Johnson was the first, and it didn’t pan out for him as he’s currently serving a 10-game suspension. News of this couldn’t come at a worse time for this Green Bay team.

Odds are Pennel will not beat the NFL and NFLPA. Let’s just face facts. That’s a very hard mountain to climb and not many players achieve the satisfactions of beating the league. The hearing is set for December 6th to decide Pennel’s fate. This means he can play in the Houston game on Sunday, but that might be it for him for the remainder of the season. If Pennel gets a six-game suspension, he misses the rest of the season plus two postseason game although that seems like very distant thing.

Pennel isn’t the biggest impact player on defense, but he’s a strong body inside that helps with their defensive line rotations as well as their special teams. With the injuries Green Bay has on defense, every player is critical. The best hope would be Packers defensive tackle only gets suspended for one or two games, and they can move on.

Charlie.