Cleveland Browns

Browns' Haden says Josh Gordon 'looks the exact same and it's just crazy'

Published Nov. 15, 2016 2:26 p.m. ET

Brett Smiley

Talented but troubled wide receiver Josh Gordon hasn't suited up for the Cleveland Browns since December 2014, but according to one account the 25-year-old is looking a lot like his old self.

"He still looks the exact same and it's just crazy,'' cornerback Joe Haden told Cleveland.com. "He looks a little bigger. I don't know how that happened, but he's still out there running around, looking the same, running his routes, floating. It still looks effortless.''

Gordon missed the entire 2015 season after the NFL suspended him for a violation of the league's substance abuse policy and he got reinstated on July 25 after failing another drug test earlier in 2016. Gordon can practice with the team during the preseason but must serve a four-game suspension to start the season.

The 6-foot-3 wideout's increased size that Haden observed might be muscle mass or otherwise. Browns head coach Hue Jackson has said that Gordon needs to shed a few pounds as he works his way back into football shape.

"He'll be the first to tell you that," Jackson said. "He does, and we're working through that process, too."

In February, former Browns safety Donte Whitner estimated Gordon thickened to 255 pounds when he hit "rock bottom" during his suspension.

If Gordon is anywhere near All-Pro form come Week 5, Robert Griffin III (or Josh McCown, or Austin Davis) will to have a pretty dynamic group of wideouts with Gordon plus 2016 first-round draft pick Corey Coleman out of Baylor, converted quarterback Terrelle Pryor, speedster Taylor Gabriel and others.