Dez Bryant left Cleveland without a contract and the Browns appear to have moved on, in part because Josh Gordon is back.
The Browns officially moved Gordon to the active list after he started training camp on the non-football injury list, and the expectation is that the wide receiver will participate in walk-throughs beginning Saturday.
"Josh Gordon is going to go into the second phase of the process that we have him on. He will definitely be involved in walk-throughs," coach Hue Jackson told reporters Friday. "He is definitely getting into the next process for us. He will definitely be involved in the walk-throughs and doing some other things."
Those other things include preparing for the Browns' regular-season opener against the Steelers on Sept. 9, but before that, there's a chance he takes part in the preseason finale against the Lions.
"If there is a chance against Detroit at the end, it would be great," Jackson said last week. "If not, my real goal is can we get him up and running by the time that we play Pittsburgh? I think that is really important."
One of the NFL's best wide receivers when he's on the field, Gordon played in just five games last season, and he missed the previous 2.5 seasons while serving suspensions for violating the league's substance-abuse policy or spending time in rehab.
And Gordon's return to the team this summer was delayed while he continued to work on his "overall health and treatment plan." "I am reaching out to you all personally and letting you know that I am not only doing great physically but mentally as well," Gordon said in a statement late last month. "You will notice that I will not be in Cleveland for the start of training camp. Rest assured, this, too, is a part of my overall health and treatment plan."
And now Gordon is back where he joins a team with just one win in two years but suddenly lofty expectations heading into the 2018 season.
