The “attacking” that has been vowed by various members of the Browns offense will have to unfold for the first 1/8th of the 2013 season without Josh Gordon.
According to Tony Grossi of ESPNCleveland.com, Gordon has been suspended two games for violation of the league’s substance-abuse policy. He also has been fined four game checks.
It’s not clear at this point whether the four game checks apply over and above the two-game suspension. We’ll assume based on our knowledge of the policy that it’s a two-game unpaid suspension plus a two-game fine.
It’s also not clear what Gordon, a second-round pick of the pre-Haslam regime in the 2012 supplemental draft, did to trigger the suspension. The standard suspension under the substance-abuse policy is four-games, resulting from multiple violations of the policy. Lesser suspensions apply when the infraction arises from a violation of the law.
In Gordon’s case, the four-game fine matches the financial penalty of the standard suspension. However, the final outcome apparently has been adjusted -- possibly on appeal -- to allow him to play in two games of the four games.
Gordon had reportedly failed three marijuana tests at Baylor.
UPDATE 4:18 p.m. ET: The NFL has announced the suspension, explaining that it’s a two-game unpaid suspension plus a two-game fine.