Jacksonville Jaguars’ WR Ace Sanders suspended four games
On Tuesday a report surfaced that Jacksonville Jaguars’ wide receiver Ace Sanders was facing a possible suspension for violating the league’s substance abuse policy. Sanders spoke about the incident during a conference call on Tuesday and admitted he “he made some mistakes” he “regrets” and he’s “still dealing with it and trying to be a better person.”
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On Wednesday, the NFL officially laid down the law, suspending Sanders for four games.
Jaguars’ head coach Gus Bradley, who will be entering his second season with the team in 2014, spoke about Sanders on Wednesday.
“It is unfortunate,” Bradley said Wednesday afternoon via John Oehser of Jaguars.com. “You hate to lose a player of Ace’s caliber for a period of time. He’s a great teammate, and players really respect him. He’s very talented.”
Bradley went on to say the team would welcome Sanders back.
“There’s no doubt,” Bradley said. “We’ve talked to Ace and said, ‘When you come back from all of this we’re going to welcome you with open arms and, ‘Let’s get back to work.’ We’ve talked to our guys about, ‘You’ve got to get your world right, then the man becomes right.’
“That’s what he’s doing now. He’s getting himself right.”
Sanders had a productive rookie season in 2013, grabbing 51 receptions, which ranked second on the team, for 484 yards and one touchdown in 15 games. With fellow receiver Justin Blackmon suspended once again, the Jaguars were likely counting on Sanders’ production in 2014. Of course, the Jaguars did draft former Southern Cal Trojans’ wide receiver Marqise Lee this year and he will likely not have an even bigger role than the Jaguars initially envisioned.