As camp looms, Josh Gordon’s absence remains the Browns biggest mystery

BEREA – Anyone hoping for more details on Josh Gordon’s absence for the start of Browns’ training camp, was thoroughly disappointed on Wednesday.

Addressing the media ahead of tomorrow’s opening practice of camp, Browns’ general manager John Dorsey and head coach Hue Jackson had very little to say about the embattled wide receiver. Earlier in the week, Gordon announced that he would not be in attendance for the start of camp this week while he went through – what he called – part of his “overall health and wellness program.” In the post, shared via Twitter, Gordon expressed excitement over joining his teammates “soon.”

What “soon” means, however, remains to be seen. And neither Dorsey or Jackson could clarify when they expected the former All-Pro wide receiver to return to the team.

“Soon could mean many things; soon could mean a month, soon could mean three days. It is soon,” Dorsey said. “I think that when we get to that point when he decides to come back, I think that you embrace him, see where he is and move forward. See where he is physically, in terms of conditioning and being ready to play football. Then, we will see what it is. Who knows when it could be? It could be 10 days, it could be 20 days, it could be 30 days.”

Sounds like soon may not be so soon, after all. Outside of sharing that the 27-year-old will be placed on the team’s “did not report” list ahead of camp, the only thing Dorsey and Jackson made clear about Gordon, throughout their 30-minute presser, is that they want to respect his privacy.

“Josh is 100-percent committed to the Cleveland Browns and the Cleveland Browns are 100-percent committed to him,” Dorsey asserted.” He has had a great offseason. He has had great training. Let’s just see what happens here. All I care about is respecting his privacy and let’s see him move forward.”

Given Gordon’s long list of previous substance abuse suspensions, theories have permeated throughout the week that perhaps another one was looming. To this point, there has been nothing concrete reported to support those rumors. Suspiciously though, when pressed about the possibility that Gordon is facing suspension, Dorsey went right back to his buzz phrase.

“Well, I respect what Josh is doing. So therefore, what I am going to do is respect his privacy,” Dorsey repeated. “That is what I am going to do. But I know this, for where he is, I think he is doing good.”

On one hand, Dorsey’s response doesn’t admit that a suspension is coming. On the other, if you were sure it’s a non-issue, why not just say so?

The dodging didn’t stop with Dorsey either. Dressed in an identical Cleveland Browns sweatshirts and hat as his superior, Jackson echoed Dorsey when it came to anything Gordon related. He did, however, curiously use the word “if” when talking about Gordon eventually returning to the team.

“We have a pretty good feel for where Josh is,” Jackson said. “We respect Josh’s privacy. We are just going to continue to move forward. I think this football team knows Josh, respects Josh, knows where he is and what he’s dealing with and can sympathize with that. Eager to get him back, if we have an opportunity to, so we will just go from there.”

From a PR standpoint, these are the types of answers Browns fans have come to expect from the team’s brass. But publicly they leave a lot open to interpretation.

Then again, maybe they really do know nothing. At one point, Jackson admitted that he hadn’t spoken to Gordon recently. For now, his focus is strictly on the players who are present.

“Obviously, we would like to have all of our players here,” Jackson lamented. “At the same time, we know that things do come up. As a staff, we are prepared for anything and everything. I think in my three years here, I have seen it all. I am not surprised by anything that can happen. I think that if we make it more than what it is – again, we are talking about a young man who is doing everything he can to put himself in the best position to be better in his life and I think that is great for Josh. At the same time, we have a football team to get ready. That is what we are going to do.”

Regardless, this Josh Gordon situation doesn’t appear to be going away anytime soon, and on the eve of training camp, it remains the Browns biggest mystery. Time will tell if it boils over into a distraction.

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