We now have an explanation why Josh Gordon's indefinite suspension will continue to linger into the summer and it's not good for the Cleveland Browns.
NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport reported Monday that Gordon failed another drug test last month, according to sources with knowledge of the wide receiver's situation. The test showed traces of marijuana and dilute, which can be used to mask substances. Gordon's agent, Drew Rosenhaus, declined to comment on the diluted sample.
The NFL did not comment on the matter. FOX Sports first reported the development.
As a result of his failed test, the NFL has informed Gordon that his application for reinstatement has been denied until Aug. 1, a league spokesman told Rapoport on Tuesday. He can reapply after that date, Rapoport added.
"His petition was denied. He may re-apply later in the year," a league spokesman told Rapoport. "We have no further comment."
The failed test does not guarantee Gordon will remain suspended for a second consecutive season, but it will not help his case as he attempts to return to an NFL field for the first time since Dec. 21, 2014. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell can rule on the case at any time.
A short time after reports surfaced of his failed drug test, Gordon posted this on Twitter:
In February 2015, Gordon was suspended without pay for at least one year for violating the NFL Policy and Program for Substances of Abuse. Gordon tested positive for alcohol, and later acknowledged he had two beers and two cocktails on a private jet to Las Vegas.
The 2015 season represented the third consecutive year in which Gordon served a ban for violating the substance abuse program. The 24 year old managed to lead the NFL in receiving in 2013 despite a two-game ban to start the season.
At the the NFL Scouting Combine in February, Sashi Brown, the Browns executive vice president of football operations, spoke with cautious optimism about Gordon's future in Cleveland.
"We're very limited in terms of what we can do with communication and contact with Josh," Brown said. "Josh, we know, is working out and, by all signs, he's on the path to come back and be reinstated. It's a process that the team is not involved with. We will leave that, and I will not comment on that, but Josh is a tremendously talented young man."
You have to wonder if Gordon's latest apparent misstep has finally exhausted the Browns' patience.
