NFL suspends Steelers’ Smith-Schuster, Bengals’ Iloka for one game

The Steelers were down 17-0 but came back for a 23-20 win.

NEW YORK — Pittsburgh Steelers rookie wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster and Cincinnati Bengals cornerback George Iloka have been suspended one game each by the NFL for violating league safety rules.

Smith-Schuster was flagged for unnecessary roughness and taunting after a blindside hit on Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict in the fourth quarter of Pittsburgh’s 23-20 victory Monday night. Iloka was penalized for unnecessary roughness for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown.

Jon Runyan, the NFL’s vice-president of football operations, ruled that Smith-Schuster "delivered a violent and unnecessary blindside shot to (Burfict’s) head and neck area." Burfict left the game on a stretcher and did not return.

Runyan suspended Iloka for striking a defenceless receiver in the head and neck area. Brown, who caught the game-tying pass on the play, remained in the game.

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