New York Jets defensive lineman Nathan Shepherd did not play in the season opener against the Buffalo Bills, and he won't be seeing the field any time soon either.

On Tuesday, Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network reported that Shepherd had been handed a six-game suspension for two separate violations of the performance-enhancing drug policy. The two failed tests came on June 27 and July 25, and it's unclear when Shepherd was told he was being handed a suspension or why the news is coming out now. 

Shepherd was drafted by the Jets in the third round of the 2018 NFL Draft and played in all 16 games during his rookie season. He recorded only 15 combined tackles while serving in more of a reserve role. Shepherd says that he never knowingly took a banned substance before this past offseason and never took a substance to gain a competitive advantage in a game, but admitted that he made rash decision this offseason that he wishes he could take back.

Working through several injuries, Shepherd felt like he was missing out while the rest of his teammates were taking the practice field for the first time and learning from the new coaching staff. So, he tried to expedite his recovery process by taking PEDs. 

"All that was going on, I was coming off of a subpar season and a new coaching staff, new playbook, new everything," Shepherd said. "In my mindset, I didn't feel very confident with how everything had gone thus far. In my mind, I was so prepared to come into this offseason and have a successful offseason and train very hard. I felt that because of these limitations, I wasn't going to be able to do that. I made a rash decision, an unwise decision and a selfish decision to look to certain PEDs in order to help me with that recovery process so I would be ready to go."

PED violations are not uncommon in the NFL, but direct admissions like this are. Shepherd's agent, Bardia Ghahremani, said his client takes full responsibility and will not challenge the NFL's decision. Pelissero reports that Shepherd could've been given a 14-game suspension -- four games for the first violation and 10 for the second -- but the league appears to have combined the two violations into one. 

Shepherd emphasized that he took the PEDs in order to help his recovery, not to enhance his performance on the field. 

"The only competitive advantage I was really looking for was being able to come to camp healthy and having an opportunity to compete," Shepherd said.

"I'm grateful to the league for showing some understanding, leniency and fairness, and I appreciate them dealing with it in a timely manner. I'm grateful to Jets GM Joe Douglas, the personnel staff and Coach [Adam] Gase, Gregg Williams, Blake Williams and Andre Carter and the Jets' training staff for their support and their transparency in supporting me through this and, despite this happening, granting me the opportunity to come in every day and earn my spot on the 53-man roster."