Sam Franklin Jr. appeals NFL suspension, agent tells AP; hearing set for Thursday

Update, October 21 evening: Franklin has appealed the suspension, his agent Harold Lewis told Associated Press reporter John Wawrow. AP's 3:02 p.m. update says a hearing is scheduled for Thursday. This replaces the earlier account of an intention to appeal; no ruling is verified.

The NFL has suspended Buffalo Bills defensive back Sam Franklin Jr. for one game without pay after determining that he spit at a Las Vegas opponent during Sunday's game. Franklin denies the allegation. Lewis disputes the league's account, and AP also reports a public denial from Franklin on Instagram. Those are challenges to the finding, not proof that the suspension has been overturned.

Buffalo is on its bye this week. The league says the suspension begins October 26 and covers the November 1 game against Baltimore, with Franklin eligible to return to the active roster November 2. Those are the announced dates unless the disciplinary process changes them. A week without a game does not absorb the one-game penalty.

Franklin's suspension follows the separate one-game penalty announced Monday for safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson. In the Bills' October 19 account of that earlier case, coach Joe Brady called Gardner-Johnson's conduct unacceptable and said it had been addressed with the team. Those remarks concerned Gardner-Johnson. They should not be read as Franklin admitting the league's allegation.

The practical problem for Buffalo reaches beyond the final score of its 33-30 win at Las Vegas. The next game could require adjustments in both the secondary and special teams. The club has to prepare for the announced absences while the appeal process runs. A filed appeal belongs in the report; it is not yet a reason to put Franklin back in the November 1 lineup.