Lions' Mahogany mum on reason for benching, says it won't happen again
· Yahoo Sports
ALLEN PARK — Christian Mahogany didn’t want to say much about what happened to cause him to lose his starting job on the offensive line prior to Sunday’s game against the Miami Dolphins.
But as Mahogany returned to his first-team role at left guard in practice Wednesday, following a disciplinary benching for violating team rules, according to Dan Campbell, the third-year pro insisted “it won’t happen again.”
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“You just gotta (take) it on the chin,” said Mahogany, a second-year starter who was limited to a handful of special-teams snaps in Miami. “That’s how I am. I’m not a person that ... I’m not going to sulk, and it sucked not being out there because I let my teammates down. I don’t want to do that. So I did, and that’s on me.”
Campbell has declined to elaborate on the reasons for Mahogany’s punishment, explaining “that’s really between us.”
“That’s why we have team rules and we’ve all got to abide by them,” Campbell said. “And if it’s broken multiple times, then you do something about it.”
Mahogany, who didn’t speak to reporters after Sunday’s game, also declined to shed any light on the rules violations Wednesday, saying, “He already said he’s not going to disclose it, so I’m not going to disrespect my head coach to disclose it in any way.”
But the decision was made prior to the team’s trip to Miami that Miles Frazier would start in his place against the Dolphins, “so it wasn’t a big surprise to me,” said Mahogany, whose training-camp battle for the starting job at left guard never really materialized after injuries to center Cade Mays and veteran guard Ben Bartch in August.
Frazier struggled in his first career start Sunday, particularly in the first half, allowing multiple pressures as Jared Goff was sacked three times and the Lions mustered just 120 yards of offense. Mahogany, who missed the Week 2 loss at Buffalo with a hip injury, currently ranks as the league’s 10th-best guard this season, according to Pro Football Focus.
So with last week’s discipline behind them, Campbell said the plan was for Mahogany to “start with the first unit” this week, adding after the team held a walkthrough practice Wednesday that “he was good this morning.”
“I had to grow up and I had to stop breaking team rules,” Mahogany said. “So it is what it is. I let my teammates down. I let my organization down. And it won’t ever happen again. …
“It’s just who you have to be. That’s all it is. I’m just going to have to be the same person every day.”
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This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Lions' Mahogany mum on reason for benching, says it won't happen again