NFL insider Ian Rapoport revealed that a suspension is on the table for Detroit Lions safety Brian Branch after he struck Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster on Sunday night and ignited a brawl between the two teams.
Lions in danger of losing Brian Branch to suspension for igniting brawl with Chiefs originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Detroit Lions safety Brian Branch is going to be facing some kind of punishment for his role in sparking a post-game brawl with the Kansas City Chiefs following the Week 6 contest on Sunday night.
Branch ignited the scuffle after hitting Chiefs wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster with an open-handed strike to the face of his helmet.
According to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, the league is reviewing the incident and Branch is facing "likely a fine or worse," which leaves the door open for Branch to get hit with a suspension, also.
"The NFL will be reviewing the actions of Lions DB Brian Branch following the game last night, with likely a fine or worse awaiting him," Rapoport reported.
oooooh Brian Branch is not taking tonight's loss well pic.twitter.com/cDDlCJGhm5
— Christian D'Andrea (@TrainIsland) October 13, 2025
After the game, Branch revealed he was frustrated with getting blocked in the back by Smith-Schuster late in the contest. Video of that has since been discovered, but that doesn't excuse what he did.
“I did a little childish thing, but I'm tired of people doing stuff in between the play and refs don’t catch it. They be trying to bully me out there and I don’t – I shouldn’t have did it. It was childish," Branch said.
Lions head coach Dan Campbell completely denounced Branch's actions and offered an apology to Chiefs head coach Andy Reid and Smith-Schuster.
"I love Brian Branch, but what he did was inexcusable," Campbell said. "It's not going to be accepted here. It's not what we do. I apologize to coach (Andy) Reid and the Chiefs and Schuster. That's not OK. That's not what we do here, and it's not going to be OK. He knows it, our team knows it. That's not what we do."
Meanwhile, Smith-Schuster took the high road and acknowledged that Branch was probably upset at getting blocked by the veteran wideout.
"I know he's a better player than that, a better person," Smith-Schuster said of Branch, per Jesse Newell of The Athletic. "He'll learn from his mistakes."
"Just doing my job," Smith-Schuster went on to add on his blocking. "I played between the whistles, and after the game, he took advantage of what he did."
The Lions' secondary is already extremely banged-up, so Detroit can ill-afford to lose its star safety.
But clearly that is in the cards after his inexcusable act on Sunday night.
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