I like Lathers' attitude but this is, unquestionably, going to hurt...a lot. Very rarely does losing a player the quality of Da'Rick improve the team. This is very similar to some fans saying UT was better off without Janzen Jackson last season and that was simply untrue. Similarly, some fans were saying UT was better off without Cameron Clear and we already know that injuries have made the loss of Clear even more devastating. I am not saying that Dooley was wrong to kick Jackson and Clear off the team and suspending Rogers now but I am saying that these players inability to abide by the rules really hurts the team. Losing Rogers, while not fatal to the season, is not a step in the right direction. With Rogers, there was a legitimate chance that UT would be playing with three, miminally two with Rogers and Hunter, NFL caliber wide receivers on the field at one time. Now, Hunter is still a threat but Patterson must become the player he was hyped to be and he literally has no time to adjust to D1 SEC football as the third threat in the early part of the year. This suspension has just moved UT from some room for margin (i.e., an injury to one of the big three receivers) to no room for injuries or other suspensions. I still expect this season to be better than last season but, with Rogers, this could have been a nine to ten win team whereas this is now a seven or eight win team without suffering any other devastating losses. Thank you, Da'Rick, for doing whatever it is that you insisted on doing as you have cost your team a shot at a really successful season and, in the process, have cost yourself, literally, millions of dollars.
By the way, I would almost rather Dooley kick him off the team to eliminate him as a distraction rather than letting this thing drag out.