Roger Goodell Releases Statement On Josh Gordon’s Suspension

The NFL Annual Meeting helped us understand a few things about the current situation in the league, and one of them includes Josh Gordon. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell talked about the player and his potential return.

Patriots head coach Bill Belichick didn’t really reveal much about Gordon’s return. He said, “Yeah, I know. His status isn’t under our control.”

Goodell didn’t quite leave an impression that he is interested in talking about the possible reinstatement for Gordon.

“I think I said this a couple months ago,” he said. “The first thing right now is the focus on Josh himself as a young man and what he needs to do to get his life on the right track. That’s what our focus is. We have resources supporting that. That’s our hope, to make sure he gets on the right track. Once he gets on the right track, we’ll get to that place [potential return]. I think right now, he’s had a complete focus on, ‘I’ve got to keep myself off the field in the right place before I can get back on the field.’”

This sort of confirms what the NFL Commissioner said prior to the championship game in Atlanta during his State of the NFL address.

“Directly I have not spoken to him since his last suspension,” Goodell said. “I do know he’s in treatment. He’s a young man who has had a lot of challenges. I have gotten to know him and understands his struggles and the challenges that he’s had to go through and he’s working at it. He understands what he has to do. He understand the importance for him — And this is well beyond football. This is for his life. — to make sure he takes care of himself and he understands the importance of getting this issue under control and being able to live a healthy and long life.

“If he can, we’ll evaluate that at the right time, but right now the focus is what more can we do to help Josh get to that place.”

Gordon would be a perfect addition to the receiving unit in New England. During his 11 games with the team, he had 68 catches for 720 yards and three touchdowns.