Bill Simmons -- ESPN Talent Instructed ... DON'T TALK ABOUT SUSPENSION

The powers that be at ESPN have issued strict orders to the on-air talent ... DO NOT DISCUSS THE BILL SIMMONS SUSPENSION.

As we previously reported, Simmons has been put on ice for 3 weeks after blasting NFL commish Roger Goodell during a podcast and the DARING the network to punish him for it.

We spoke with sources at ESPN who tell us ... "On a corporate level, they told us not to talk about it."

So far, we're told the talent is falling in line -- because no one wants to risk facing the same punishment as Simmons.

And get this ... our ESPN sources tell us there are multiple on-air people who STAND-BY the punishment ... with one on-air person telling us, "Bill went too far. Remember, Disney runs this thing."