As of Tuesday, the status of receiver Dwayne Bowe for Sunday night’s game against the Broncos wasn’t known, in the wake of a weekend arrest for marijuana possession.
It now is.
According to Ed Werder of ESPN, Bowe will play. PFT has confirmed that Bowe will indeed play.
“Under CBA, Chiefs cannot discipline,” Werder tweets.
Technically, Werder is accurate. Under Article 42, Section 6 of the labor deal, “No Club may impose any discipline against a player . . . as a result of the Player’s violation of the . . . NFL Policy and Program on Substances of Abuse.” (That same language appeared in the 2006 CBA, so it’s not new.)
Still, teams can -- and some do -- impose discipline after off-field incidents.
In 2008, for example, the Steelers suspended receiver Santonio Holmes with pay after a citation for marijuana possession. He missed a key game against the Giants, and the Steelers lost.
In 2010, the Jets benched receiver Braylon Edwards for the first quarter of a Sunday night game against the Dolphins after a mid-week DUI arrest.
In 2012, the Steelers suspended defensive lineman Alameda Ta’amu for two games after a DUI incident.
The more accurate explanation at this point is that the Chiefs realize that they can take action against Bowe, but that they currently choose not to. As we understand it, the facts are regarded to be sufficiently in dispute to make any action by the team against Bowe premature. At some point, things could change, and the Chiefs could take action.
For now, Bowe is playing.
It’s still not clear whether Bowe will be starting the Sunday night game against the Broncos. But if the Chiefs aren’t sufficiently sure what happened with Bowe to sit him down for a game, it makes sense that they also don’t yet feel comfortable enough to sit him down for even a series.