Josh Gordon has reached an age – 31 years – that suggests a certain maturity and an ability to move beyond youthful indiscretions.
It is also an age for many NFL players when their most productive days are behind them.
The Tennessee Titans hope only one of those is true in this case.
They signed Gordon, a veteran and oft-disciplined wide receiver, to their practice squad Thursday with the hope that he could add something to their passing game. For most of his career has been a big-play threat who has averaged 17 yards per reception and has scored one touchdown for every 12 passes he has caught.
It is possible that Gordon could be in uniform as soon as the 2022 season-opener against the New York Giants on Nov. 11, either as a gameday addition from the practice squad or because shows enough in his first full week of practice that he gets signed to the active roster. After all, only one wide receiver currently on the active roster (Robert Woods) has caught 40 or more passes in an NFL season.
There is also a chance, though, that he could be gone at any moment. Gordon has been suspended multiple times during an NFL career that dates back to 2012, when he was a second-round pick by Cleveland in the supplemental draft.
His most recent suspension was a little more than a year ago, and it was an indefinite one as was the case with several others. Off-the-field issues caused him to miss all of three seasons (2015, 2016, 2020) and parts of five others.
His next misstep – if it happens – likely would mean the end of his NFL career.
Here is a rundown of Gordon’s disciplinary issues with the NFL:
• June 7, 2013: Suspended two games for violation of the NFL’s substance-abuse policy and misses Cleveland’s first two games of the regular season.
• Aug. 27, 2014: Suspended for a full season (later reduced to 10 games) for another violation of the NFL’s substance-abuse policy. A little more than a month earlier, he was arrested in North Carolina for speeding and found to have a blood-alcohol of .09, above the legal limit.
• Feb. 3, 2015: Suspended for a full season for another violation of the NFL’s substance-abuse policy (he missed the entire season). A week earlier, he tested positive for alcohol use.
• April 12, 2016: His petition for reinstatement is denied because of a failed drug test. The petition is approved three months later, but he enters rehab in September and ultimately misses a second straight season.
• Dec. 20, 2018: Suspended indefinitely for another violation of the NFL’s substance-abuse policy. Now with the New England, he is not available for the postseason, which ends with a Patriots victory in Super Bowl LIII.
• Dec. 16, 2019: Suspended indefinitely for violation of the NFL’s policies on performance-enhancing substances and substances of abuse. Now with Seattle, he misses the final two games of the season as well as all of 2020.
• Jan. 15, 2021: Suspended indefinitely for violation of the terms of his latest reinstatement, which had been approved six weeks earlier.
Gordon eventually was allowed back in the NFL last season.
He signed with Kansas City as a member of the practice squad in late September and was added to the active roster a little more than a week later. Gordon finished with just five receptions for 32 yards but notably played in the Chiefs’ final 12 games, his longest run of uninterrupted action since he returned from his first suspension and played the final 14 games of 2013 for Cleveland.
The Titans have given him the opportunity to continue that run. The rest is up to him.
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