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The Honolulu Advertiser
Updated at 11:19 a.m., Wednesday, October 8, 2008

NFL: Jets S Smith loses appeal of 1-game suspension

Associated Press

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — New York Jets safety Eric Smith will sit out Sunday's game against Cincinnati after the NFL denied his appeal of a one-game suspension and fine for his helmet-to-helmet hit on Arizona's Anquan Boldin.

"He'll be out this week," coach Eric Mangini said today. "We had plans in place and things that we worked on from when we first learned about that, so we'll just proceed along that path."

Smith was suspended and fined $50,000, including one game check, last week after the scary play near the end of New York's 56-35 win on Sept. 28. Smith, in his third year, appealed the decision and insisted there was no malicious intent on his part.

The league, which upheld the suspension Tuesday, said Smith committed a flagrant violation of player safety rules and that Boldin was in a defenseless position when contact was made. Boldin is out indefinitely after having surgery to repair a sinus fracture.

Smith, on the reserve-suspended list, started three of the team's first four games opposite Kerry Rhodes. Mangini said he'll be replaced by a combination of Abram Elam, the only other safety listed on the roster, and cornerbacks David Barrett and Hank Poteat.

Smith was briefly knocked unconscious by the hit and felt groggy afterward, but Mangini expects the safety to play against Oakland on Oct. 19.