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ENGLEWOOD, Colo. —** After hearing Aqib Talib's appeal of a two-game suspension resulting from an altercation with Raiders receiver Michael Crabtree, the NFL on Tuesday informed the Broncos it reduced the original punishment to one game.
Talib's suspension begins immediately and will rule him out of the Broncos' Week 13 game against the Dolphins.
President of Football Operations/General Manager John Elway and Head Coach Vance Joseph each took part in the appeal hearing with Talib.
Earlier on Tuesday, Elway spoke with Dave Logan on Orange & Blue 760 and described why they viewed the situation differently from the league's original perspective.
"From our point of view, we thought Crabtree was the aggressor," Elway said. "He was the one that started it. Obviously it's not something we want in the game, and I understand it from the league's perspective that they don't want it in the league, but I just thought that for Aqib and for our team, I thought [he] did a pretty good job of handling the situation that really could have gotten way out of control. Even though it was a little bit out of control, it could have been a lot worse with the way things went about and Crabtree's mentality."
In the original letter notifying Talib of his suspension, NFL Vice President of Football Operations Jon Runyon justified the punishment as a "series of flagrant violations" that "began less than three minutes into the game."
"Such actions have no place in this game, engender ill will between teams, and lead to further confrontations," Runyon wrote.
