Detroit Lions safety Brian Branch (32) sacks Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams (18) Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

NFL Makes Ruling on Brian Branch's Appeal

Originally posted on Detroit Lions on SI
By John Maakaron | Last updated Oct 15, 2025 8:18 PM ET

Detroit Lions safety Brian Branch has learned his fate after going through the league's appeal process.

Branch was suspended one game for slapping Kansas City Chiefs wideout JuJu Smith-Schuster.

Unfortunately, the team will not have the services of the former second-round pick, as he formally lost his appeal.

Dan Campbell expressed to reporters that Branch is a person with high character, but made a mistake when he lost his cool after the Sunday Night Football game concluded.

“He knows. He knows that, we’ve talked about it," said Campbell. "I saw him yesterday before all this came down. So, he understands all that. He knows he can’t react that way, and he’ll be better for this. He’ll learn from it.”

Detroit's fifth-year head coach expressed the talented defender understood the magnitude of his mistake and that he should learn from his mistake.

"Our guys know that. Look, this is one instance of something that happened, and it doesn’t matter what led to it. We all know it’s no different than you driving down the road and something happens on the highway, right? You can’t take out your aggression on someone else. Can’t cross that line," said Campbell. "Our players know that, (Lions DB) Brian (Branch) knows it. He’s fine. He’ll learn from this. He’s an outstanding young man, he really is. He's got a big heart, and he made a mistake. He’ll learn from it.”

Campbell was not all that confident Branch would win the appeal, when asked by reporters.

"My job is to move forward, here. I know this, we don’t have him. We don’t have him," said Campbell. "So, I can worry about that, or I can worry about what we do have and how we adjust. And so, we’ll find out on (Kerby (Joseph). I know we’ve got (Thomas) Harper, we’ve got (Loren) Strickland, we’ve got (Lions CB) Rock (Ya-Sin) who can play safety and corner. We can play one safety and play four linebackers for all I care. I mean, we’ll figure it out. (Kelvin Sheppard) Shepp will have a good plan, we’ll talk about what we need to do. And we’ll have a plan ready, and we’ll be ready to play Tampa Bay.”

After Campbell's comments, the team made the decision to waive Strickland. It is expected that Harper will see a hefty amount of playing time this week.

Joseph may end up sitting this game, but the team will continue to evaluate his health all throughout the week of preparation leading up to Monday Night Football.

This article first appeared on Detroit Lions on SI and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: