Detroit Lions defensive back Brian Branch has been suspended without pay for one game after initiating an altercation with Kansas City receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster on Sunday night.

As the game, which resulted in a Chiefs’ win, ended, Branch refused a handshake from KC quarterback Patrick Mahomes and made a beeline for Smith-Schuster, who was seen objecting to the safety’s apparent lack of sportsmanship. Fuelled by what he felt had been cheap shots and missed calls in his battle with the receiver during the game, Branch sent Smith-Schuster sprawling with a blow to the face before players from both teams became involved.

“I did a little childish thing,” Branch told the media later in the evening, “but I’m tired of people doing stuff in between the play and refs don’t catch it. They be trying to bully me out there and I don’t… I shouldn’t have did it. It was childish.”

NFL vice-president of football operations Jon Runyan issued the suspension for a violation of Rule 12, Section 3, Article 1, which prohibits unsportsmanlike conduct and applies to ‘any act which is contrary to the generally understood principles of sportsmanship’, telling Branch that his actions were uncalled for.

“Your aggressive, non-football act was entirely unwarranted, posed a serious risk of injury and clearly violated the standards of conduct and sportsmanship expected of NFL players,” Runyan wrote. “Your conduct reflected poorly on the NFL and has no place in our game.”

Smith-Schuster was left bloodied by the incident, which Lions coach Dan Campbell apologised to his opposite number for.

“I love Brian Branch,” Campbell said, “but what he did is inexcusable, and it’s not going to be accepted here. It’s not what we do. It’s not what we’re about. I apologised to [Chiefs coach Andy Reid], the Chiefs organisation and Smith-Schuster. That’s not okay. That’s not what we do here. It’s not going to be okay. He knows it. Our team knows it. That’s not what we do.”

Under the terms of the suspension, Branch — who was fined for face-masking and unsportsmanlike conduct in a previous game against the Green Bay Packers — would only be eligible to return to the Lions’ active roster on Tuesday 21st October, following the team’s game against the high-flying Tampa Bay Buccaneers. However, he has served notice of his intent to appeal the ban, a move that will see his case go before either Derrick Brooks, Ramon Foster or Jordy Nelson, the hearing officers jointly appointed and compensated by the NFL and NFLPA.

For the record, Brooks is a former Buccaneers legend, while Nelson tormented the Lions for years as a wide receiver on the Packers teams under Aaron Rodgers…