BEREA: Browns quarterback Robert Griffin III hopes wide receiver Josh Gordon realizes his NFL career is on the line.
Griffin would like to reunite with his friend and former Baylor University teammate in Cleveland, but it won’t happen unless Gordon gets his life in order.
The NFL denied Gordon’s petition for reinstatement into the league April 12 after Fox Sports reported a day earlier he failed a drug test in early March.
He has missed 27 of the Browns’ past 32 games because of recurring violations of the league’s substance-abuse policy.
He’ll be eligible to re-apply for reinstatement Aug. 1, whereupon he must convince the NFL he remained abstinent from substances of abuse in the meantime. Commissioner Roger Goodell has said he wants to be assured the 2013 All-Pro selection wouldn’t slip up again.
Griffin said Thursday he considers Gordon “family,” so they have communicated since the league ruled on his case last week.
“He knows I’m always there for him no matter what happens, but I’m rooting for him,” Griffin said after the third and final practice of voluntary minicamp. “I hope he understands the situation that he’s in and what’s at stake, and I think he does. But it’s up to him ultimately to make that decision.
“You cannot tell a grown man what to do. All you can do is be there for him and try to help guide him. So I’ve been there for him, will continue to be there for him, and I hope he makes the right decisions so he can get back in the league and show everybody what he’s really made of.”
After Gordon’s bid for re-entry was rejected, he attended the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival with troubled free-agent quarterback Johnny Manziel last weekend in Indio, Calif. Manziel, who was cut by the Browns on March 11, has been on a partying rampage this offseason. Agent Drew Rosenhaus dumped Manziel on Tuesday because he refused to enter rehab.
Uncertain future
Incumbent starting quarterback Josh McCown has been expendable since the Browns signed Griffin last month to a two-year, $15 million deal as a presumptive bridge starter.
But the case for the Browns keeping McCown might have been strengthened when they passed on a chance to select one of the two top-rated quarterbacks in the April 28-30 draft by trading down from the second overall pick to the eighth in a blockbuster deal with the Philadelphia Eagles.
“I don’t know. I don’t know what’s going to happen,” McCown said when asked whether he senses the trade could allow him to stick around. “... It’s a great opportunity, especially playing this position, to focus, to have mental toughness and just go, ‘I’m not going worry about that. I’m just going to focus on what I’ve got to do today and go and work hard.’ ”
McCown, 36, performed much better last season than his 1-7 record suggests. He completed 63.7 percent of his passes with 12 touchdowns, four interceptions and a rating of 93.3.
So it’s not unrealistic to think other teams would be interested in him, especially because franchises are almost always seeking quarterbacks.
McCown was asked whether seeing news about former Browns quarterback Brian Hoyer taking free-agent visits this week makes him wonder which teams would want him.
“I try not to think about it other than when the questions are asked,” he replied. “... If that happens, we’ll cross that bridge when it gets there. ... If your eye is on tomorrow or what might happen next [and you tell yourself], ‘Well, I’ll just wait it out until I’m on a new team or something like that,’ then you don’t get better. And what if you stay here? Now you’re not very good here, where you’re supposed to be.”
Wherever McCown plays next season, he’ll continue to serve as an ideal mentor.
“Josh has got a lot of experience,” Griffin said. “He played with Jeff Blake [who played in the NFL from 1992-2005]. Jeff Blake! I know Jeff, but God, Jeff Blake. Josh, he’s been around the block a couple times, and it’s really good to just hear his wisdom. You’ve just got to focus on what’s at hand today, and it’s good to have a guy like that around and learn from him. I don’t know what the future holds, but he’s a great guy.”
Noticing progress
McCown and Griffin were impressed with the performance of quarterback-turned-receiver Terrelle Pryor in minicamp. Pryor changed positions last year, appeared in three games with the Browns and caught one pass for 42 yards.
“It seems like he’s getting more and more comfortable playing the position,” McCown said. “He’s big and he’s fast, but last year you kind of saw him thinking a little bit while he was doing it, trying to do things right, so it takes away from your skill set. So it’s nice to see as he’s learning it and kind of getting it that his skill set is coming back to life.
“He can be an asset to us. So I’m just impressed with first and foremost, his work ethic, just how he’s approaching it. It’s a hard thing to do and it’s not very often guys are afforded that opportunity to make a position change like that and/or are athletic enough to do it. Terrelle has certainly worked his tail off. Hats off to him. He’s doing some good things. He’s just got to keep working. But you’re starting to see little glimpses of what it can become.”
Griffin has no doubt Pryor is determined to do everything he can to succeed.
“He’s a quarterback at receiver, so you know he’s going to work hard,” Griffin said. “He’s going to put in the extra time. He’s going to do the studying, and I think the other [receivers] are helping him as well. ... They’re really spending time with him, teaching him the craft and it’s showing up on the field.”
Extra points
• Browns head of football operations Sashi Brown said the upcoming draft presents a good opportunity to add talented wide receivers. “Those are important pieces to have,” he said. “We are going to look to see what the draft provides. There were a couple of guys that we talked to in free agency as well that we didn’t acquire.”
• Left tackle Joe Thomas, wide receiver Andrew Hawkins, free safety Rahim Moore and offensive lineman Darrian Miller were absent from practice. Thomas’ wife, Annie, recently gave birth to the couple’s third child and first boy.
• Wide receiver Brian Hartline practiced after sitting out Tuesday.
Cornerback Joe Haden (ankle surgery) and offensive lineman Conor Boffeli (injury Tuesday) donned walking boots while watching practice.
• Quarterback Connor Shaw was limited this week with a “slight pull,” Jackson said.
• Brown declined to comment on medical reports regarding the knee of UCLA linebacker Myles Jack, a projected top-10 draft pick.
• The Browns waived tight end Chase Ford. They claimed him off waivers from the Baltimore Ravens last week.
Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Browns blog at www.ohio.com/browns. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/NateUlrichABJ and on Facebook www.facebook.com/abj.sports.