Josh Gordon officially cleared to practice. Seahawks intend for him to play vs Rams
Josh Gordon is back.
And not just to practice.
Coach Pete Carroll said he expects the former All-Pro wide receiver to be flying around the field when he practices for the first time Wednesday since the NFL reinstated him from his 12-month drug suspension. The intent is for Gordon to play in Seattle’s showdown at home with the Los Angeles Rams with the NFC West title at stake.
The Seahawks’ roster exemption on Gordon ended Monday, clearing him to practice this week.
The team waived wide receiver Penny Hart to make room on the 53-man roster for Gordon.
Gordon is eligible to play Sunday against the Rams, in Seattle’s regular-season finale Jan. 3 against San Francisco on the road, and in the upcoming playoffs. Those begin the second weekend of January.
Carroll was asked Monday if he has any expectations for Gordon right away, this week, as he begins his second go-round with the Seahawks after a year away.
The coach chuckled.
“Yeah!” Carroll said, “as a matter of fact I do.”
That laugh and his words made it clear the team didn’t support Gordon throughout his seventh league suspension for drugs, recreational and performance-enhancing this time, to have him sit on its bench for the most important game of the season.
“We are planning the week like he has a chance to contribute,” Carroll said.
“So, we’ll see. We’ll hold out good hope and thought, and see where he fits.”
Where the 29-year-old, 2013 All-Pro with Cleveland fit last year in his short time with Seattle was as a down-the-field threat, particularly on third downs. He caught seven passes in 11 targets for a gaudy average of 19.9 yards per reception in five games with Russell Wilson and the Seahawks offense last season. Six of his seven catches were for first downs.
Gordon was reinstated by commissioner Roger Goodell Dec. 3. Gordon then had a six-day protocol of COVID-19 tests to pass before he could enter the Seahawks’ facility for the first time since Goodell suspended him in December 2019, after Gordon’s six weeks with Seattle last season.
The Seahawks could use him as another threat on third downs. Defenses have recently double-teamed DK Metcalf in those situations with a cornerback in short coverage and a safety bracketing the 22-year-old phenom who’s led the NFL in yards per catch through much of this season. The Seahawks going 5 for 12 on third downs Sunday at Washington inched their season conversion rate on third downs to 40%. That’s only 24th-best in the 32-team league.
For the last week and a half Gordon has been doing conditioning, apart from his teammates practicing and winning their game at Washington Sunday to clinch a playoff berth. NFL Network reported the 6-foot-3 Gordon is at around 238 pounds with 7% body fat.
“We’ve got to get him on the practice field and see what he looks like and all. He’s been working out really hard; I’ve been able to watch some of his workouts on video a couple times here to see that he’s in really good shape. He’s really big and strong, too.
“We are excited to see how he does.”
The Seahawks signed back Gordon in September, on the presumption he would soon be able to play again.
Three and a half months later, in time for Seattle’s playoffs, he finally can.
This spring Gordon had taken the next step to getting his career — and life — back on track after his latest suspension in December. He’d made it clear by expressing his love for the Seahawks in his short stint playing for them last season and then working out in the Seattle area all this past offseason that he felt he’d finally found a home in the Pacific Northwest.
The native Texan and former star for the Browns and New England Patriots had Seattle as his listed home on social media. His postings emphasized that he thinks he’s found a new home, with the city and with the Seahawks. They were his third team in the last three seasons in 2019.
Asked last December, days before the eighth suspension of his career, if he’d had any discussions with the Seahawks about being on their 2020 team, Gordon said: “That’s my hope.
“I think, optimistically, that’s anybody’s goal, any player’s goal, to try to find a place you can call home — in all aspects.
“The culture’s just different. I think it’s something that felt more like a fit, I guess, to me. It’s pretty natural. It’s pretty smooth.
“It’s just my pace, I guess.”
But as we consider how Gordon will fit back in with the Seahawks, consider: This is his ninth chance to fix his life.
He believes Seattle is the perfect environment to do that.
At age 29, Gordon finally taking advantage of this chance is by far more important than how he fits the offense.
“I’m rooting for him to be able to overcome,” Wilson said this month. “I hope this time is better than the last time.”
