Browns wide receiver Josh Gordon has spent a lot of time apologizing and/or explaining himself since the end of last season.
There’s the suspension for violating the league’s substance abuse policy, which Gordon said was triggered by codeine in medicine for a sore throat, and the decision to hang out with Cleveland public enemy No. 1 LeBron James after the Heat won the NBA title this year each led to acts of contrition from Gordon. Gordon took a more defensive stance on Saturday when asked about criticism that he loafs during practice and doesn’t work as hard as he should to become a better player.
Gordon said that those who criticize him for not spending extra time working with Brandon Weeden after practice don’t see that he’s in the trainer’s room to get treatment for his patellar tendinitis.
“[As for] loafing, I mean certain people see different things when they look at me run or look at me move,” said Gordon, via Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. “It might look slow ‘cause I’m a little bit larger to play at my position. So it might be a little bit deceptive, hard to look at it. It looks like, compared to everybody else, a little bit shorter strides, shorter movements, but I go out here 100 percent every day I come out here.”
While team CEO Joe Banner has made it clear that there’s only so much rope left for Gordon after getting suspended on the heels of positive drug tests in college, the wideout says he hasn’t heard any complaints from the coaching staff about his practice habits. If those habits help produce a strong season post-suspension, Gordon will likely be able to take a break from defending himself from criticism in the future. If not, that rope will be even shorter for Gordon in Cleveland.
