NFL News Updates: Browns WR Slapped With 1 Year Suspension For Substance Abuse

Cleveland Browns' wide receiver Josh Gordon will have to rest his game for one year as the NFL suspended him without pay for breaking the league's substance abuse policy.

Gordon reportedly failed an abuse test conducted by the NFL for alcohol and he will be facing his third suspension, ESPN noted in a report.

Browns general manager Ray Farmer expressed the team's disappointment on Gordon through a statement.

"Throughout his career we have tried to assist him in getting support like we would with any member of our organization. Unfortunately our efforts have not resonated with him. It is evident that Josh needs to make some substantial strides to live up to the positive culture we are trying to build this football team upon," Farmer was quoted by ESPN as saying.

He added that the team hopes that his suspension will help Gordon "gain some clarity" in his plans in the future for his career. "We will have no further comment on Josh as he will not be permitted in our facility for the duration of his suspension."

The absence of Gordon, according to Yahoo Sports, would need the Browns to keep Brian Hoyer especially that Johnny Manziel has also submitted himself for treatment in a rehabilitation facility, though he is expected to be back soon and join the training camp of the Browns.

For the next wide receiver to replace Gordon, Yahoo said that the team should be careful with their draft picks this year and to choose the players who will really show promise during the games since they will be taking the place of one of the best receivers in the league.

ESPN said that the suspended player was considered as one of NFL's brightest receivers in 2013 with 87 catches, 646 receiving yards and nine touchdowns. His statistics last season, however, changed as he failed to score in the fives games he played.

Gordon's suspension will not affect the team's salary cap, ESPN said. With the suspension, he also has been forfeited a portion of the signing bonus of around $2.3 million which he got after inking a $5.34-million contract in 2012. 

The wide receiver is not new to controversy as he was arrested in July last year for driving while impaired when he sped down a street in North Carolina, said another ESPN report. He pleaded guilty and was slapped 12 months of unsupervised probation, a $100 fine and $290 in court costs instead of a 60-day suspended jail sentence.

Reacting to news reports and people calling him an alcoholic and drug addict, Gordon said that he is not such thing.

"I failed the [alcohol] test, obviously, and the rest is history ... colored by media speculation and faux outrage. In the end, of course, I failed myself," he was quoted by ESPN as saying.