Defensive end Randy Gregory will miss the first four games of the 2016 season while serving a four-game suspension for violating the league’s substance-abuse policy, but the terms of the ban allowed him to practice and play for the Cowboys in the preseason.
It appears that won’t be happening, however. Ed Werder of ESPN reports that Gregory has checked into a treatment facility and will not be reporting to Cowboys camp, which opens later this week.
There are no specific details about what led Gregory to check into the facility, but Werder’s colleague Adam Schefter reports that Gregory has violated the substance-abuse policy again and now faces an extended suspension. Whatever the term of that suspension, Gregory’s history of problems in this area will make it hard to count on getting anything from him in 2016 or beyond.
That’s not great news for a Cowboys defense that’s also without defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence for four games and linebacker Rolando McClain for 10 games as they serve suspensions of their own.