Coughlin asks for 'common sense' in Sash suspension

Tom Coughlin is normally Mr. Law and Order. There isn’t much gray in his interpretations of the rules. But when it comes to Tyler Sash’s four-game suspension for violating the league’s policy against performance enhancing drugs, he’d like to see a little more “common sense.”

“This kid really had no intention of doing anything that is illegal,” Coughlin said. “I know what the definition of the rule is and I understand all about that … Sometimes you think maybe common sense needs to be involved in this.”

Sash is suspended for the first four games of the season. He has said that his violation was for taking a prescription drug Adderall for anxiety from his family physician in Iowa during the offseason. Adderall is a banned substance in the NFL.

“I went to a hometown doctor of mine that I’ve known forever, so obviously I didn’t know that I had to speak with (the Giants),” Sash said today. “Every time I had a prescription I didn’t know that I had to turn around and tell the Giants about it.”

Sash’s appeals of the suspension were not successful. Earlier this offseason, teammate Andre Brown had his four-game suspension – for Adderall too, he said – overturned. Sash said he did not know enough about Brown’s case to say why one was overturned and another was not.

Sash spoke out on the fairness of his appeal process.

“It’s hard knowing what I know and how I went about the process,” he said. “I did everything they asked me to do except I guess from the start I didn’t hand in my prescription to the NFL which is the main reason why (I’m suspended).”

The league does not comment on these suspensions, so there is no way to know for sure that Sash’s suspension is for the Adderall he took in March. Coughlin, however, seemed more than willing to vouch for him.

“I feel bad for the kid,” he said. “He is a heart-and-soul football player now. He takes everything he has and puts it into the game. He loves to play … There’s no issue with this young man. He doesn’t need any watchdog over him. He’s a kid that …ignorance (of the law) is not an excuse, but if he knows what’s expected, he does it.”

“I never felt like I’d be in this situation myself, just based on the way I was raised,” Sash said. “My whole life I’ve felt like I’ve gone down the right path and now I’ve just hit a little bump in the road. Right now, I’ve got to handle my responsibility and be more informed next time. Obviously, I just have to know what’s going on with all the rules and things like that.”