Did Ndamukong Suh Step on Aaron Rodgers' Leg on Purpose? Packers QB Returns to Game Despite Calf Injury

"Was it an accident? Did someone intend for it to happen?" is a burning question in crime fiction novels, and yet we find that debate in Aaron Rodgers' injury on Sunday during a home game.

The quarterback lay on the ground in pain with an aggravated injury to his left leg, just as his team pulled off a touchdown that took the teams' gap to 0-14 in the first half against the Detroit Lions, said a Yahoo Sports report.

"Rodgers came into Sunday's game limited in his practice work with a calf injury he suffered in Week 16 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers," the report explained.

The stadium was stunned and then cheered after he stood up, Yahoo Sports added. He was carted off with just over two minutes to go before the half, as fans chanted, "MVP! MVP!" He returned in the middle of the third quarter, with the teams tied at 14, proving the fans right.

"...[T]hree possessions later, [he] turned a 14-14 tie game into a 28-14 Packers lead in a game Green Bay went on to win for the NFC North title," said Yahoo Sports in another report.

The topic then quickly shifted to Ndamukong Suh, a defensive tackle of the Lions, who's known for dirty plays, the report said, explaining that he had already racked up several penalties for past illegal hits.

The Washington Post said that among his most hostile hits were against quarterbacks like Andy Dalton (Cincinnati Bengals) and Jay Cutler (Chicago Bears).

The report observed that Suh stepped on the athlete that was pinned to the ground twice — "The first one looked accidental, but the second one, moments after the first, looked like Suh knew what he was doing... Suh planted his leg on Rodgers' left leg, shifted his weight and stepped on it, which angered Rodgers, who pushed Suh out of the way."

A flag was not declared on the malicious back-pedal but an investigation will reportedly be launched. It happens just a week after the Lions' center, Dominic Raiola, did a similar hit on Chicago Bears defensive tackle Ego Ferguson, for which he is now serving out a suspension.

"I didn't see it live, I didn't see it on the Jumbotron, but from what I'm told, I'm told it was ridiculous," Packers head coach Mike McCarthy said, per the latter Yahoo Sports report. "There's no place for that, so that's where I'm at with it. I don't understand it, frankly."

Meanwhile, Jim Caldwell, the head coach of the Lions, said there was nothing malicious about his player's actions.

All that said, the Washington Post blog thinks the NFL might just suspend Suh to send a strong message that hostility has no place in the sport. According to the Detroit Free Press, if that happened, a Sunday game versus the Dallas Cowboys could be his last game with the Lions. He enters free agency soon.