Cook's lawyer says it was unfair for FSU to initially suspend the RB

The lawyer for Florida State running back Dalvin Cook said Monday that he felt it was unfair for Florida State to suspend his client before a more thorough investigation into the allegations against him. Cook was found not guilty of misdemeanor battery on Monday. He was alleged to have punched a woman in the face outside a bar.

Ricky Patel made the comments on Yahoo Sports Radio's Primecut. You can listen to the full audio of his remarks below. An excerpt of them is also included below.

"Whenever I speak with [Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher], I make sure that he understands I think he’s gone over and beyond," Patel said. "And when I say that, when he kicked Dalvin Cook off, I was very very upset … here’s the thing. You have a guy that’s being accused of some type of crime, OK? There’s no tangible evidence where you’re saying 'OK, there’s no doubt that he can be kicked out.' It wasn’t one of those situations like Johnson. Johnson, I understand. You’ve got to kick him off because you know for a fact he’s punched someone."

Johnson is De'Andre Johnson, the Florida State backup quarterback who was dismissed from the team after he was caught on surveillance cameras punching a woman at a bar. The alleged incident involving Cook happened a day before Johnson's incident.

Fisher said at ACC media day in July that his team had no tolerance for players hitting women.

While Patel is clearly speaking from a lawyer's point of view when it comes to due process – and has valid points about players at Florida State being there for athletics moreso than academics – Florida State was in a position where it needed to do something given that the accusations against Cook surfaced after the Johnson incident.

And an indefinite suspension before the season to let the criminal trial take place isn't a crazy course of action either. With the timing of the trial, Cook's legal fate was set to determine whether or not he would miss any football games. And he won't because of the accusations.

He was reinstated to the team on Monday following the verdict and his presence gives Florida State a boost in the running game. As a freshman last season, Cook ran for over 1,000 yards and is FSU's leading returning rusher. His first day of practice was Tuesday and Fisher said he looked "good" after doing conditioning drills on his own during the suspension.

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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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