Redskins' Ryan Clark blames Troy Vincent for Meriweather's suspension

According to Washington Redskins safety Ryan Clark, teammate Brandon Meriweather's recent two-game suspension wasn't the result of a history of dangerous hits culminating with last week's helmet-to-helmet pasting of Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Torrey Smith.

Instead, Clark blames new NFL executive VP of football operations Troy Vincent's need to flex his power for Meriweather's two-game banishment.

“Roger [Goodell] kept full control of certain things and he passed this [the decision on safety rules fines and suspensions] on to Troy, a guy who was up for the directors job of the NFLPA. He didn’t get it,” Clark told CSNWashington. “Quickly switched sides and now this is his first opportunity to have power. This is the only power he has in the office and this is what he comes up and does. I think it just shows where he’s at.”

Clark has been to a few competition committee meetings, and says that changes need to be made to the process the NFL goes through when handing out suspensions.

“So, you know, I understand this process,” said Clark. “I’ve been to New York to talk about this process, I’ve been to competition committee meetings to try to get a better grasp on what they’re looking for and, I can be honest with you, after talking to them, I am no more clear than they are. You know, they watch the film, they talk to each other, they say, 'Hey, that looks like a bad hit' and then they levy out fines. The process definitely needs to be tweaked a little.”