Seahawks cornerback Brandon Browner is denying an NFL Network report that he is facing an eight-game suspension for violating the NFL’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs.
Michael Silver of NFL Network reported on Monday afternoon that Browner faces a PED-related suspension. That would be his second such suspension, after he sat out the final four games of the 2012 regular season for a PED violation. A second suspension under NFL rules would be for eight games.
But Browner denied Silver’s report. Shortly after the report surfaced, Browner took to Twitter and wrote, “I’m not facing suspension for PEDs, it’s sad that the NFL is reporting this.”
There was no word in Silver’s report about the specific nature of Browner’s PED violation, or the status of any appeal. Browner is currently nursing a groin injury and was expected to miss at least the next couple of weeks anyway.
Suspensions have been a significant problem in Seattle, and Browner isn’t the only Seahawks cornerback currently dealing with a report of a looming suspension: Walter Thurmond is expected to miss four games while serving a suspension for a violation of the NFL’s substance-abuse policy.
UPDATE 7:53 p.m. ET: Browner is reportedly facing a one-year suspension for violating the NFL’s substance-abuse policy, not the performance-enhancing drug policy.