Ndamukong Suh is obviously prideful - and that's a good thing. So that he answered back the charges by the Atlanta Falcons' offensive line that he was out of line with his 0n-field comments after Falcons quaterback Matt Ryan was injured Sunday is understandable.
But the truth is there is a mind game going on in the league right now to get under Suh's skin. He has called a lot of attention to himself because of his outstanding rookie season, and his rough play, which takes the game to the line and sometimes crosses it. He's also in a lot of commercials. There is a lot of envy.
Good for Suh. He is a great player. The key, though, doesn't involve the charges of being overly aggressive or over-hyped. Rather, it's the production. In seven games this season, Suh is on pace for 53 tackles and seven sacks - both below his production from 2010 (66 tackles and 10 sacks). He doesn't have a forced fumble or an interception, like he did last season. In other words, he just needs to make more big plays, and none of the rhetoric would matter. Until he plays better, it does.

This is what happened Friday night at Ford Field.
Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh hit Cincinnati quarterback Andy Dalton and drove him to the ground after he released the ball. Dalton's helmet came flying off. Suh was flagged.
I understood the flag. I don't understand the $20,000 fine Suh (he tweeted about it Wednesday) received from the league Wednesday as result.
Was it a helmet to helmet hit? No.
Did Suh take some sort of cheap shot at Dalton's knees? No.
The NFL is laughable sometimes. It just goes too far. It's like they understand they have a good thing going, almost a license to print money because we're all so mesmerized by their product, they have taken the fun out of the game.
Example: Kickoff returns. They have basically taken it out because of moving the line up to the 35 where kickers will soar the ball into the end zone for touchbacks. Stefan Logan was one of the best things about watching the Lions last year. He'll only be half as fun this year - on punts.
Suh's play on Dalton thrilled the crowd. This is a lunch bucket town that likes it very much Suh is extremely aggressive on the football field.
It was so loud after the hit, Dalton had trouble getting the signals off on the next play.
Player safety is a concern, but it's impossible to legislate all the risk from the game. It doesn't make every late hit worthy of a fine.
Suh did bend the rules. He was penalized for it, too. But fined?
What a joke. And not such a funny one at that.