Josh Gordon To Enter Rehab
Browns receiver Josh Gordon announced Thursday that he’s putting his return to the NFL on hold and entering an in-patient rehabilitation facility (Twitter link via the team).
“This is the right decision for me and one that I hope will enable me to gain full control of my life and continue on a path to reach my full potential as a person,” stated Gordon.
The Browns are supportive of Gordon’s choice, but executive vice president of football operations Sashi Brown was unwilling to comment on how this will affect the 25-year-old’s place with the franchise. Meanwhile, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports that Gordon’s future with the organization is now in doubt (Twitter link).
This will be Gordon’s second stay in rehab of 2016, writes Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com. Gordon also entered rehab during the offseason, franchise icon Jim Brown told Cabot. Given that he’s going into rehab, Cabot posits that Gordon may have once again violated the NFL’s substance abuse policy. If so, Gordon will face more discipline from the league, thereby putting his career in further jeopardy.
Substance abuse has long been an issue for Gordon, who is currently serving a four-game suspension. Entering this year, suspensions had cost Gordon 29 of the Browns’ previous 48 regular-season games – including all of the 2015 campaign – and the NFL denied his previous petition for reinstatement in April after he failed a drug test. Commissioner Roger Goodell then reinstated Gordon on July 25 with certain conditions. In addition to the quarter-season suspension, Gordon needed to stay on course with his treatment plan if he wanted to return in Week 5. Given Thursday’s development, it’s now possible he’ll never play another down in Cleveland or anywhere else.
“Our concern is with Josh’s well-being. We will decline comment on his status with the team,” the NFL said of Gordon’s decision to enter rehab (Twitter link via Rapoport).
When Gordon has been on the field, the ex-Baylor standout has performed like an elite-caliber wideout. In 2013 – his latest extensive action – he racked up 87 receptions, a league-leading 1,646 yards and nine touchdowns in 14 games. The 2012 supplemental second-round pick has totaled 161 catches, a tremendous 17.1 yards per reception and 14 touchdowns in 32 career games.
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Osemele: Ravens’ Offer “Didn’t Get Close”
While speaking to Baltimore-area reporters Wednesday, Raiders guard Kelechi Osemele had some less-than-kind words for his former team, the Ravens, writes Jeff Zrebiec of the Baltimore Sun. Osemele’s current and previous employer are set to meet in Baltimore on Sunday.
After spending the first four seasons of his career with the Ravens, Osemele headed to the Bay Area over the winter as a highly sought-after free agent. It took a five-year, $58.5MM deal for the Raiders to land Osemele, who commented on the Ravens’ offer Wednesday.
“We didn’t get close at all,” he said. “I wasn’t really offered much at all. I pretty much knew right away I was going somewhere else. Some of the things that were being brought back to me, borderline, they can hurt your feelings sometimes.”
Osemele’s assessment runs contrary to what head coach John Harbaugh said in February, notes Zrebiec. Back then, Harbaugh stated the Ravens had been “really aggressive” in trying to re-sign Osemele and he added that the offer that was on the table at the time “shows a lot of respect for K.O.” Regardless, Osemele knew entering last season that it might be his last in Baltimore.
“I talked to Torrey Smith about it and some other guys that ended up leaving and they kind of told me that it might be a situation where Baltimore won’t pay me enough for me to stay, and it’s something that does happen with that organization because they’re able to find so many young players,” he said. “I was prepared for it. There were even some people in the organization that approached me about it and told me about it prior to the year.”
Like Osemele, Smith parlayed a four-year Ravens tenure into a sizable payday in the Bay Area. Smith is with the 49ers, though, having inked a four-year, $40MM contract with the club in March 2015.
Osemele also revealed Wednesday that there’s a Ravens coach he didn’t get along with during his time there, but he declined to identify which member of Harbaugh’s staff it is. Despite both that and his unhappiness with the Ravens’ efforts to retain him, Osemele doesn’t have hard feelings for the franchise.
“I love the city and I love the organization,” he said. “I believe in what they do for the community and what they represent. But I’m somewhere else now. I’m 100 percent all in with the Raiders’ organization. We’re going to go in there on Sunday and put on a good performance.”
It’s early, of course, but Sunday’s matchup could have playoff implications down the line. The Osemele-less Ravens are off to a 3-0 start, while the Raiders have begun 2-1 as they look to break a 13-year postseason drought.
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Workout Notes: Giants, Jets, Cardinals
Thursday’s tryouts from around the NFL:
- The Giants auditioned four offensive linemen – Rob Crisp, Jason Weaver, Jon Halapio and Shahbaz Ahmed – reports Adam Caplan of ESPN (Twitter link). New York ended up signing Halapio to its practice squad. The Patriots selected Halapio in the sixth round of the 2014 draft, but he hasn’t seen any regular-season action. Crisp, Weaver and Ahmed are also devoid of experience.
- The Jets worked out defensive end Sterling Bailey, according to Rich Cimini of ESPN (Twitter link). Bailey signed with Indianapolis in May as an undrafted free agent from Georgia, but the Colts cut him from their practice squad Monday.
- The Cardinals tried out guards Kaleb Johnson and Martin Wallace, tweets Caplan. Both Johnson and Wallace have one game of pro experience under their belts.
8 Teams Reached Out To C.J. Spiller
Running back C.J. Spiller found no shortage of interest in his services during the two-plus weeks he was unemployed, reports Rand Getlin (Twitter link).
Spiller, whom the Saints released Sept. 13, signed with the Seahawks on Wednesday, but Seattle was only one of eight teams that reached out to him. Spiller could have joined any of those clubs a week ago, per Getlin, who tweets that the 29-year-old had the luxury of being selective because his $1.7MM salary with the Saints is guaranteed. New Orleans also paid Spiller a $1.55MM bonus after he cracked its opening roster, though the ex-Clemson star was inactive for Week 1 and on the outs two days later.
The Seahawks were one of at least three teams that met with Spiller, joining the Packers and Jets, and his visit went so well that Seattle immediately secured him to a deal. Their hope is that Spiller will serve as a quality complement to Christine Michael, who has been the lone bright spot in a running game that ranks 15th in the NFL in yardage and tied for 26th in yards per carry. Michael has averaged a terrific 5.2 yards per rush on 45 attempts, while Thomas Rawls, Alex Collins, Terrence Magee and C.J. Prosise have combined for a paltry 47 yards on 29 carries. Rawls is currently felled by a cracked fibula, and the Seahawks waived Magee after signing Spiller.
While Spiller hasn’t been much of a threat over the past couple years, the 2010 ninth overall pick is an upgrade on paper over the Seahawks’ contingent of non-Michael options. Spiller was at his best as a rusher and pass catcher in Buffalo from 2011-13, but his numbers declined in 2014 and he then inked a deal in free agency with the Saints. Spiller averaged just 3.1 yards per carry on 36 attempts last season, though he did catch 34 passes and two touchdowns during his 13-game Saints tenure.
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Dolphins Demote Byron Maxwell
The Dolphins are demoting high-priced cornerback Byron Maxwell, report Adam H. Beasley and Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald. Not only will the team reduce Maxwell’s playing time against the Bengals on Thursday, but it will also start Tony Lippett in his place, according to Beasley and Salguero.
Maxwell and Lippett have been polar opposites this year in terms of playing time, as the former has participated in all 244 of the Dolphins’ defensive snaps and the latter hasn’t yet taken the field. Maxwell hasn’t done enough to justify seeing as much action going forward in the eyes of either the Dolphins or Pro Football Focus, which ranks the 28-year-old a below-average 69th out of 104 qualified corners in overall performance this season.
Maxwell has disappointed since leaving Seattle as a free agent after the 2014 season and signing a six-year, $63MM contract with Philadelphia. After the 6-foot-1, 203-pounder didn’t live up to his deal with the Eagles last season, they elected in March to send him, linebacker Kiko Alonso and the 13th pick in this year’s draft to Miami for the eighth selection.
Alonso has bounced back from a dreadful 2015 to serve as one of the league’s top linebackers against the run this season, per PFF, but the Maxwell era in Miami hasn’t been as fruitful. As a result, he’ll cede playing time to Lippett, a converted receiver and a fifth-rounder in the 2015 draft, as the Dolphins face the A.J. Green-led Bengals on Thursday.
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Latest On Dez Bryant
Cowboys receiver Dez Bryant missed an MRI exam and team meetings on Monday and Tuesday because he feared the worst with his injured right knee, head coach Jason Garrett revealed Wednesday (via Marc Sessler of NFL.com).
“He’s a very passionate guy, like we’ve talked about, and he really thought he was going to get some bad news when he got the MRI on Monday,” said Garrett. “Like some of us do in life, at times, he avoided it and didn’t come in to take care of his business on Monday or Tuesday. Then he came in on Wednesday and took care of that part of it (the MRI). We got the information. He suspected it was worse than the information that we got.”
Bryant’s decision to skip Monday and Tuesday opened him up to team-imposed fines, though there’s no word on whether the Cowboys will discipline him.
For his part, Bryant added in a tweet (sic), “I made a poor decision based on how I felt about my knee coach JG addressed it to me and I understood the consequences.”
Upon returning to the club Wednesday, Bryant underwent an MRI, as Garrett mentioned, and received the news of a hairline fracture. There’s a chance Bryant will be able to play against the 49ers on Sunday, but he could also miss multiple weeks. Bryant tweeted Thursday that his status is “day to day” and said he received “great feedback” on his knee from Dr. James Andrews.
Dallas played much of last season without either Bryant or quarterback Tony Romo and stumbled to a 4-12 record. The Cowboys are already halfway to matching that win total through three weeks, but they’ve gotten there without Romo. The back injury the veteran suffered during the preseason opened the door for fourth-round rookie Dak Prescott, who has held his own thus far. Still, the Prescott-led Cowboys obviously don’t want to go without their most accomplished wideout, Bryant, who has picked up 11 receptions, 150 yards and a touchdown this season.
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Terrelle Pryor Wants Extension From Browns
The Browns’ Terrelle Pryor has played under head coach Hue Jackson with three different organizations since beginning his NFL career in 2011, and the wide receiver hopes the two remain together for the foreseeable future.
“I respect him very highly and if Hue Jackson’s here, I’d love to stay here,” Pryor told Mary Kay Cabot of cleveland.com on Thursday. “I want to be here if Hue’s going to be here for awhile, because I know this is a building process — and it’s not really. We’re right the there. We’re competing with everybody, we’ve just got to put teams away and I’d like to be where Hue’s at.”
Jackson holds similar reverence for Pryor, who’s scheduled to become a free agent at season’s end.
“There are a lot of things I know about Terrelle that maybe a lot of people don’t. I’m talking about as far as what he is really capable of doing,” said Jackson. “I would say to all of you that he hasn’t even scratched the surface of what he is. He’s growing each and every day as a football player, as a person. He’s getting better, and his best football’s still ahead of him by far.”
Pryor also spoke highly of Cleveland, but he isn’t aware of whether his representatives have begun extension talks with the team.
“Cleveland’s awesome. The fans are are awesome,” said the former Ohio State Buckeye. “But right now, I’m here and I’m going to try to get it done.”
Pryor was a quarterback in college, and he began his pro career there after the Raiders chose him in the third round of the 2011 supplemental draft. The Raiders’ coach at the time was Jackson, though Pryor didn’t debut until 2012. By then, Jackson was out of Oakland and serving as an assistant in Cincinnati, where Pryor ended up last year after flaming out as a signal-caller and converting to receiver.
Jackson was instrumental in Pryor’s position switch, notes Cabot, and the move is paying off for the Browns in 2016. Pryor has been a bright spot for the 0-3 club, having amassed 14 catches for 244 yards while occasionally factoring in as a rusher and passer. The 27-year-old is coming off a career-best showing, one in which he caught eight balls for 144 yards, ran four times for 21 yards and a touchdown, and completed 3 of 5 passes for 35 yards in a 30-24 loss to Miami.
As of now, Pryor looked primed to land a significant raise over his current $1.671MM salary, and it stands to reason the Browns could make an added push to retain him in light of fellow wideout Josh Gordon‘s decision to enter rehab Thursday. With the troubled Gordon likely out of the picture in Cleveland for good, the only potential high-end receiver the team has under its control beyond this season is rookie Corey Coleman. The first-round pick fared well over the season’s first two weeks before breaking his hand in practice on Sept. 21.
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Dolphins Promote Jamil Douglas
The Dolphins have promoted offensive lineman Jamil Douglas from the practice squad in advance of tonight’s game against the Bengals, according to James Walker of ESPN.com.
This won’t be the first NFL action for Douglas, who appeared in all 16 of the Dolphins’ regular-season games and started six as a fourth-round rookie last year. Despite the experience Douglas accrued in 2015, Miami cut the former Arizona State Sun Devil on Sept. 3 as it worked its way to the 53-man roster limit. The Dolphins then signed Douglas to their practice squad a day later.
The 1-2 Dolphins are dealing with injuries to multiple offensive linemen as they prepare for the 1-2 Bengals, which explains Douglas’ promotion. Douglas is capable of playing anywhere along the interior, where center Mike Pouncey has missed the entire season thus far because of a hip issue. Worsening matters, Anthony Steen, who filled in for Pouncey during the Dolphins’ first three games, is doubtful Thursday on account of an ankle injury.
Zach Links contributed to this report. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
NFL Workout Updates: 9/23/16
As the NFL enters Week 3, clubs continue to audition players with an eye towards updating their emergency lists. Here are the latest workout notes from around the league:
- Two running backs (Zac Brooks and Gus Johnson) and three receivers (Mario Alford, Kenny Bell and Cayleb Jones) auditioned for the Browns on Friday, reports Adam Caplan of ESPN (Twitter links). The only member of the quintet with game experience is Alford, who saw action in one contest with the Bengals as a seventh-round rookie last year and caught a single pass.
- Running back Kenny Hilliard will try out for the Seahawks on Monday, tweets Wilson. Hilliard, formerly of LSU, went to Houston in the seventh round of last year’s draft. Hilliard didn’t garner any experience as a rookie with the Texans, who cut him Sept. 2.
- Cornerback Tye Smith and guard Darrelle Greene worked out for the Jets on Friday, per Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle and Rich Cimini of ESPN.com (Twitter links). Smith, whom the Seahawks chose in the fifth round of last year’s draft, appeared in four games as a rookie. Seattle cut him from its practice squad Tuesday. Greene was previously with the Eagles, who axed him from their practice squad Wednesday.
Lions Audition Vlad Ducasse, Others
Guards Vlad Ducasse and Josh LeRibeus joined cornerbacks Chimdi Chekwa and D’Joun Smith in trying out for the Lions on Friday, reports Adam Caplan of ESPN (Twitter link).
The most experienced of the four is the 28-year-old Ducasse, who combined for 78 appearances and 22 starts with three teams from 2010-15. Ducasse, whom the Jets chose in the second round of the 2010 draft, started a career-high 11 games as a member of the Bears last season.
Chekwa spent the first four years of his career with the Raiders, who grabbed him in the fourth round of the 2011 draft. The 28-year-old logged 32 appearances and four starts along the way, though he was out of action in 2015 after the Dolphins cut him from their injured reserve last September. Miami brought back Chekwa to compete for a roster spot over the summer, but he didn’t make it through their final cuts.
Both LeRibeus and Smith are recent third-rounders. LeRibeus went to Washington in 2012, and after accruing little playing time in his first few seasons, he piled up personal bests in appearances (16) and starts (11) last year. The Colts selected Smith a year ago, but he spent time on IR-DTR and only played in four games. Indianapolis then waived the 23-year-old this summer, and he worked out for the Saints on Thursday.
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