The news of Sheldon Richardson’s arrest was news to the New York Jets.
According to Dom Cosentino of NJ.com, the Jets didn’t know about the situation until Thursday, after media reports in St. Louis highlighted the July 14 incident.
Before the story broke, Richardson met with reporters after practice at training camp. He vowed to stay out of trouble.
“I take full accountability for my actions,” Richardson said. “Like I said before, I apologize to my teammates, to this organization, I told them you don’t have to worry about my name being in the news again.”
And then “again” came roughly an hour later, with allegations of street racing at high rates of speed (up to 145 mph) with a 12-year-old in the car, trying to avoid police, having possession of a gun, and smelling like marijuana.
The marijuana smell doesn’t speak well of Richardsons’ chances of passing up to 10 drug tests per month given his status in the substance-abuse policy. With a four-game suspension already due to commence in Week One, one more violation in the next year will result in a 10-game suspension.
Apart from any trouble he may find for the arrest or the smell of marijuana, the failure to disclose the latest incident to the Jets before Thursday could expose Richardson to enhanced penalties under the Personal Conduct Policy.