Cleveland Browns head coach Hue Jackson told the media on Monday that Josh Gordon is close to joining the team in practice, but said that the recently reinstated wide receiver still needs to shed some weight:
Here’s more, from ESPN:
“I think he’s getting closer each and every day,” Jackson said.
When he does, though, Gordon will need to lose weight.
His college coach Art Briles noticed it last week when he visited Cleveland Browns training camp, and his coach with the Browns acknowledges it.
“He’ll be the first to tell you that,” Jackson said. “He does, and we’re working through that process too.”
Numbers on pounds or kilograms were not provided, but Gordon clearly is not where Jackson wants him. It’s not a reason for alarm, merely a reality.
It’s not surprising that a guy who was suspended for the entire 2015 season isn’t quite in football shape, but it should also serve as a reminder that it may take a while into the 2016 NFL season for Josh Gordon to look anything like the electrifying Josh Gordon we’re used to. Gordon is suspended for the first four games of the season as well, so even once he loses weight, it may take him some time to get into the flow of game action.
Gordon is (incredibly) still only 25, and led the NFL in receiving yards in 2013 with a ridiculous 1,646 yards. It appears he’ll be catching passes this season from new Browns quarterback Robert Griffin III, who is impressing in training camp and was named the team’s starter on Monday.
[ESPN]
