Facing the possibility of being without tackle Seantrel Henderson for four games this season, the Buffalo Bills have been bit big time by the suspension bug recently.
Henderson’s four-game ban for reportedly testing positive for marijuana comes on the heels of Marcell Dareus and former Bills running back Karlos Williams also being suspended four games.
Opening up about his team’s suspension issues, Bills head coach Rex Ryan sure did sound like someone that was alarmed.
Rex Ryan says Bills’ player development program brings in speakers to talk about substance abuse. “But we’ve had some issues."
— Mike Rodak (@mikerodak) September 7, 2016
To be clear here, the Bills are no different than the other 31 teams in the league. Each one has experts/speakers that come in and talk about substance abuse and related NFL-mandated policies.
Instead, it’s all about how you counteract the growing trend of substance abuse in the league. It’s also about your culture and the sense of responsibility your organization drills into its players.
As it relates to Henderson, the issue is more muddied. Battling Crohn’s Disease, it’s being reported that the offensive tackle attempted to self medicate with marijuana. While still a banned substance, it’s a completely different issue than both Dareus and Williams.
Nonetheless, Buffalo will likely find itself without another key contributor for a quarter of the season. That’s no small deal.