Head of football operations Sashi Brown explained the organization chose to welcome Gordon back after gathering information about the former All-Pro selection’s communication with player engagement manger Ron Brewer and his meeting last week with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell at league headquarters in NY.
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Gordon has been banned since February 2015 for multiple violations of the league’s drug policies. Gordon is suspended for the first four games this season, but he’s being permitted to interact with the team during the ban – his fourth suspension in four seasons.
Earlier this offseason, new Browns executive vice president of football operations Sashi Brown said that Griffin could possibly be the long-term answer in Cleveland, a team that has had 24 starting quarterbacks since 1999. Gordon said he knows that just saying it doesn’t prove anything and wants to show how he’s changed by taking advantage of the support that the Browns are offering him.
Hue Jackson said Thursday he’ll “definitely” name his starting quarterback before the first preseason game, which is August 12 in Green Bay.
Gordon will miss two weeks of training camp with a strained quadriceps.
“Contrary to what some people think, he was getting there and has done a good job”. But we’ll have a plan in place to manage him as we move forward.
“If the message from Josh and the pledge from Josh wasn’t consistent with what we wanted to see from him, we would’ve made a different decision”, Brown said. “We understand the league has expectations for him and we do too, and we shared those with him”, Jackson said.
Gordon is allowed to practice in training camp and play in the preseason games before the suspension kicks in.
The Browns have been urged by many to release the running back, but as of Thursday, that doesn’t seem to be in the cards. “They say pressure busts pipes, I think Corey likes that, that’s kind of the way he’s built”.
The Browns are confident they have a structure in place to adequately support Gordon, who led the National Football League in receiving yards in 2013 despite missing two games because of a suspension. “I know who Josh Gordon is as a football player”.
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“I felt very good about having a conversation with him and I think he will let you know we were very open and honest and there are expectations how we do things here”. “We’ll use it as a teaching lesson for the entire team, something that Hue preaches”.
