Colts defensive lineman Arthur Jones isn’t saying what substance he took to earn him a four-game suspension in the league’s performance-enhancing substance policy. But he is saying it’s something he took legally, and accidentally.
In addition to blaming his suspension on failing to read the ingredients list on a supplement, Jones pointed out today that a lot of perfectly legal medications have banned substances in them.
“I mean with the NFL you can take too much cough syrup and it says PED,” Jones said, in comments distributed by the Colts. “I’m not going to get into too much detail over that.”
Jones is correct about that: The full list of banned substances under the NFL’s PED policy includes pseudoephedrine, which is found in common cold medicines like Sudafed. However, the NFL allows the use of pseudoephedrine if a player can document that he was taking it for cold relief, on the recommendation of a team doctor.
What Jones actually tested positive for has still not been released and may never be. Jones has declined to say, and the NFL doesn’t release details of PED tests. If it was as innocent as taking an over-the-counter medication without scrutinizing the ingredients list, Jones might be better off, from a PR standpoint, explaining exactly what he took.