Josh Gordon has been conditionally reinstated by the NFL after missing the entire 2015 season, but he’s not out of the woods yet.
In addition to already being hit with a four-game ban to open the season, Gordon is reportedly “on thin ice” with Hue Jackson and the Browns coaching staff, per Jason Cole of Bleacher Report.
Cole also notes that some within the Browns organization are “weary” of the off-field troubles Gordon has gotten himself into over the years.
In the end, it wouldn’t matter if the Browns wanted to give Gordon 1,000 pardons for any further missteps. The bottom line is that this is likely the final chance he will get to make things work in the NFL after being suspended indefinitely last year for failing a drug test when alcohol showed up in his urine.
It was also reported in April that Gordon had a false-positive test for marijuana in March, which could account for the four-game suspension to start the 2016 season.
One of the NFL’s most talented receivers, he put up jaw-dropping numbers in 2013 before his off-field troubles kicked into high gear. Despite playing with mediocre quarterbacks, he caught 88 passes for 1,646 yards (leading the league) and nine touchdowns, playing in just 14 games.
Needless to say, the Browns would love to get that production back into the fold, if Gordon can keep to the straight and narrow path.