Cleveland Browns wide receiver Josh Gordon is still waiting to see if he will be suspended for the entire 2014 season after failing yet another drug test. In the meantime, he is loafing it during team workouts.
On Tuesday, Browns head coach Mike Pettine admitted that he has had to speak to Gordon about not hustling during practice.
“It is something we’ve talked about and from what I understand he’s made some improvement, but it is a work in progress,” Pettine said, via Mary Kay Cabot of the Northeast Ohio Media Group. “I’m a big believer in quality of reps versus quantity of reps. If I’m a player and I know that I’m going to be out there for 40 full-speed team snaps I may have a tendency to pace myself.
“There still needs to be improvement there but we’re aware of it.”
Pettine also noted that awaiting word on Gordon’s potential suspension is throwing a kink in Cleveland’s offseason plans.
“There’s certainly a level of frustration because we’ve known the news for so long,” he said. “It’s just a holding pattern and I understand that the league has a process that they have to go through and there’s other things that they’re dealing with and we respect that. But at the same time it is difficult because it really will affect our preparation for the season.”
As Cabot pointed out, Sports Illustrated’s Greg Bedard noted Gordon’s tendency to dog it during practice last summer, so this is a recurring theme. Gordon was also suspended for the first two games of last season because of a positive marijuana test, and he was kicked off the team at Baylor after multiple failed drug tests.
Simply put, it sounds like Gordon has become a distraction. Not only does the team not know when it will be without its best offensive weapon, but Gordon is making life difficult on his teammates and coaches by giving less than 100%. Practicing hard would be the best thing he can do right now to help the team prepare.
