Typically, players don’t participate in voluntary offseason practices only when the players choose not to do so. In the case of Jets running back Mike Goodson, the recent decision to not volunteer was made involuntarily.
According to Seth Walder of the New York Daily News, both the Jets and the league held Goodson out of OTA sessions this week after his May 17 arrest on weapons and drug charges. Goodson hopes to resolve the issue and return to practice next week.
Goodson could force the issue if he wants, filing a grievance via the NFLPA. Teams can’t keep players from practicing unless they are suspended or cut. In Goodson’s case, however, pushing for the team and/or the league to let him practice could prompt the team and/or the league to shrug. And then to suspend him.
Goodson’s primary defense is that the gun found in the car in which he was riding wasn’t his.
Which, to the older folks in the crowd (like me), also is known as the Greg Brady defense.