
Cardinals coach Bruce Arians said earlier this month that it would be a “waste of breath” to discuss linebacker Daryl Washington in a football context until he’s reinstated by the league from the substance abuse suspension that kept him out of action all of last season.
That hasn’t happened and Washington told Mike Jurecki of FOX 910 that he hasn’t heard anything from the league about being reinstated since the suspension became eligible to end on May 30. Despite that, Washington also told Jurecki that he’s “confident that something will work out” and that he’s preparing for training camp as if there’s a reason for him to be ready to rejoin the team.
Washington’s reinstatement is just part of the process for him to resume his playing career, however. He still faces possible league discipline for a domestic violence conviction for which he was sentenced to probation and a 36-week domestic violence and anger management program. Washington has completed that program and had his one-year probation reduced by two months so that it ended in February of this year.
Once those issues are decided, it will be left to the Cardinals to waste some breath on conversations about whether they want Washington back on the team after his extended absence.