Browns coach Mike Pettine: Team won't cut WR Josh Gordon

Browns wide receiver Josh Gordon is facing a year-long suspension for a second violation of the league's substance abuse policy, and last month he was arrested in North Carolina for driving while impaired. But coach Mike Pettine said the team won't cut Gordon, according to Nate Ulrich of The Akron Beacon Journal.

Browns wide receiver Josh Gordon is facing a year-long suspension for a second violation of the league's substance abuse policy, and last month he was arrested in North Carolina for driving while impaired. But coach Mike Pettine said the team won't cut Gordon, according to Nate Ulrich of The Akron Beacon Journal. 

Report: Browns' Johnny Manziel leads NFL in jersey sales

“Josh is a Cleveland Brown," Pettine said. "We want to do what’s best for him. We have a player that potentially needs help. Whether it’s him or whether it’s anybody else that wears the uniform, if we can help, we’ll help. We want to make our decisions always, what’s best for the player, and you try to marry it with what’s best for the team. So that’s why I don’t think that cutting him, while it may have worked for some other people, I don’t know if that’s necessarily the best option here. It might be the worst option for both -- for us and for him. We’re going to wait and see what happens and then act accordingly.

Pettine added the 23-year-old Gordon, who led the league with 1,646 receiving yards last season, cannot be replaced and he doesn't know how long Gordon may be suspended.

“I’ve heard everything, all the possibilities, so it’s just gotten to the point where it is what it is," he said. "We’ve planned for everything, and we’re ready to go. I don’t want that to be a huge dark cloud hanging over everything and we’ve hung our hopes on it. Typical coach mentality: Expect the worst, hope for the best.”

- Chris Mascaro