Miami Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill has leapt to the defence of "great teammate" Richie Incognito, following harassment allegations made against him this week.
The offensive lineman has been indefinitely suspended by the team after his recent conduct towards teammate Jonathan Martin.
"All I know about Richie is that he's a great teammate to me," Tannehill told NFL.com. "I saw him be a great teammate all the time. Does he like to give guys a hard time? Yes. Does he like to pester guys and have fun? Yes.
"He brought a lot of laughter to this locker room. He brought a lot of cohesiveness to this locker room. He was the best teammate I could ask for."
Tannehill also went on to suggest that Incognito and Martin were actually best friends, rather than two people who didn't get on and would have an issue with each other.
He added: "If you asked Jonathan Martin who his best friend in on this team was two weeks ago, he'd say Richie Incognito.
"The first guy to stand up for Jonathan when anything went down on the field? Any kind of tussle, Richie was the first man there.
"When they wanted to hang out outside of football, who was together? Richie and Jonathan. I'm not in those guy's shoes so I can't explain what's going on."
Joe McPhee
