It's No Laughing Matter When Ndamukong Suh Faces Aaron Rodgers

Suh has played 12 games against the Packers QB and doesn't like how Rodgers laughs at opposing players when throwing the ball away

Ed Kracz/SI Fan Nation Eagles Today

It’s not like Aaron Rodgers’ laughter haunts Ndamukong Suh, but it does bother him.

The Eagles defensive tackle is familiar with the Packers quarterback, having played against him twice a year for the first five years of his career in Detroit. He recalled Rodgers’ cackle after he would throw the ball away while Suh was in hot pursuit of sacking him.

“Aaron is very, very smart,” said Suh at his locker on Wednesday. “He gets rid of the ball. He’ll run to the sideline, then look at you and laugh as he throws the ball out of bounds so you can’t get a sack. 

"He knows what he’s doing. Obviously, he’s got a very fast release. Smart quarterback.”

Suh and Rodgers will renew acquaintances on Sunday night when the Packers (4-7) visit the Eagles (9-1) in a Sunday Night Football matchup.

“No question, I dislike the Packers, very much so,” said Suh. “Whether I’m playing with the Eagles or somebody else. Without question, I have all the desire to get after that quarterback and create havoc for that offense.”

Suh and Rodgers have a history, but the QB isn’t the only one with who the burly DT has had a run-in with a player from Green Bay.

The incidents were long ago, but Suh was suspended for one game when he stomped on the arm of then-center Evan Dietrich-Smith during Suh’s second season in the league back in 2011.

In 2014, he was suspended for a game for stepping on Rodgers’ leg, though the suspension was overturned on appeal.

Then, there is Rodgers laughing at players when he throws the ball away.

Suh hates it so much that he said he wants to, “line up on the next play, and wait for another opportunity to hit him hard.”

Not just hit him but hit him hard.

Rodgers doesn’t get hit hard often. Rarely at all, actually.

His release is as quick as it comes ad he knows where he’s going with the ball.

This season, despite all the losing the Packers have done, the QB has been sacked just 21 times, which is an average of two per game.

Already, in his first game with the Eagles, Suh recorded a half-sack with fellow newcomer Linval Joseph, with the two combining to bring down Matt Ryan in Indianapolis last week.

“Watching film early on, they continue to have an elite running game (and) they got an elite running back (in Aaron Jones),” said Suh. “Obviously, Aaron Rodgers is Aaron Rodgers. So, I think from that standpoint, you’re going to have to hone into stopping that run, then earn the right to pass rush.”

Suh has 5.5 career sacks against Rodgers, and he is 5-7 against the Packers in his career, with the most recent outing coming two years ago as a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a 38-10 win. Suh had a sack in that game.

“Obviously, it’s always good to have familiarity with a player or a team,” he said. “Obviously, I was in the division for a long time, and played them – it seems like – almost every year of my career.

"So yeah, I’ve got familiarity. But again, teams want to change how they attack different defenses.”

Suh's attack won't change. He'll be coming for Rodgers before the QB can start laughing at him.

Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Fan Nation Eagles Today and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglesmaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.