Commanders’ Frankie Luvu expresses relief after 1-game suspension is reduced to fine

By Canadian Press on November 5, 2025.

ASHBURN, Va. (AP) — With quarterback Jayden Daniels out long term and the defense also ravaged by injuries, the Washington Commanders got one piece of good news when linebacker Frankie Luvu’s suspension for repeated hip-drop tackles was reduced to a $100,000 fine.

“Just a relief, you know what I mean? A weight off my shoulders,” Luvu said Wednesday, a day after winning an appeal of his one-game ban for his third violation of the hip-drop tackle rule. “I know the rule has changed drastically over the years, but just … I’m never trying to step out on the field and trying to hurt somebody. That’s never my intentions.”

Officials held their flags when Luvu brought down Jaxon Smith-Njigba during the first quarter of Washington’s 38-14 loss to Seattle on Sunday night.

But the NFL later ruled the play constituted another violation by the eight-year pro after he was previously fined for hip-drop tackles in Week 4 and Week 8. The reduction of the sanction makes him available to play in the Commanders’ game against Detroit on Sunday.

Commanders linebacker Bobby Wagner said the outcome suggests understanding of the rule is evolving.

“When you watch the games, he’s not being penalized for it,” Wagner said. “So a lot of the time as a player, if you’re in the league and you do something and nothing’s penalized, then you walk away from the game thinking everything’s fine. Then you get the letter in the mail and you’re like, ‘Oh, it’s not fine.’ It lets you know that everybody is still trying to figure out what this thing is.”

Banning the hip-drop tackle was among the latest in a series of rule changes intended to make the game safer.

With the hip-drop tackle, Wagner said it’s not something you can focus on avoiding during the game.

“You want to work on it at practice to try to make it muscle memory, and you hope that your muscle memory takes over. But that takes time,” Wagner said. “Everybody knows Frankie. Everybody knows the kind of person he is. He loves this game, this game means a lot to him. And so if they give him something to fix, he will get it done.”

Meanwhile, Marcus Mariota is set to start for the Commanders (3-6) against the Lions (5-3) after Daniels suffered a dislocated left elbow in the fourth quarter against the Seahawks.

But the Commanders haven’t placed Daniels on injured reserve, and head coach Dan Quinn said the team is still deciding the path forward.

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL

Ian Nicholas Quillen, The Associated Press