Jarvis Jenkins suspended first 4 games of season for testing positive for banned substance (Merged)

[drtdrums]

While none of us is capable of knowing what this particular situation
is, I feel it’s important to point out that players, in general, are at
the mercy of two gaping holes in the current drug-testing policy.

1. Supplement companies are not allowed by law to list things that
are not present in the supplement on the label. (This, IMO, is a great
example of a very stupid law).

2. Supplements quite often contain things that are not listed on the
label. This is because the companies that create supplements are using
the same machines to process (capsulize or otherwise package) all of
their supplements. Many of the banned substances on the NFL list are
going to show up in drug tests if even a microgram is present.

While it is difficult to give players the benefit of the doubt in
many cases (gee, thanks, baseball), I can certainly see how some
instances of positive drug tests are caused by bad practices of the
supplement creator.

[Boss_Hogg]

 

Good gravy, it's not like Jarvis was tearing up the line last year.

 

They still have: Cofield, Bowen, Baker, Ron Brace, Gholston, Chris Neild, Who knows, maybe someone else will step up. Everything will be fine.

 

Good lord if this is a preview for what ES is going to be then we are in for a long year.

[skinfan2k]

Big deal.  We have replacements and the schedule in the beginning of the year is not that hard.  

[Gibbs Hog Heaven]

Let me preface this by saying I love Coach Mike. I've defended him from day one arguing he needed the full initial 5 years to turn the **** storm he inherited around. And the roster overhaul has been nothing shy of miraculous in his tenure to date. We're a legit football franchise again and boy is it fun to watch develop.

But there's a growing underbelly under his watch that people are gona' doubtless laugh off as 'knee jerk' and not the Coaches problem but one that needs SERIOUS attention. That being, for all the good Shanahan has done through his tenure; the totally lax player culture that has been allowed to roll right through to today's news of the Jarvis Jenkins suspension.

Under this regime, we've had:

Jordan Black; Philip Buchanen; Cederic Griffin; Rob Jackson and now Jarvis all caught and banned under the leagues PED policy. All claiming they knew nothing about it and most saying they where legit 'scripts from Docs.

Throw in FreddieD and Trent getting caught and banned after MULTIPLE failed drug tests.

That's 7 players all banned for 4 games each. A heck of a costly price for this organisation on the field the past three years.

Oh yeah, and we also picked up (and ridiculously laid our safety hopes in one basket) Tanard Jackson knowing full well the chances where he was looking at a hefty ban having already served one year long suspension his short career and being caught using again.

So in total that's EIGHT players the past three years for a combined total of 28 games plus another 16 with Jacksons year long hiatus.

That number is beyond ridiculous.

Laugh it off all you want but we're running at double the league average over the duration and 3 more than the next team. (With half the darn league having no more than 1 guy caught.).

How is this allowed to continue? Seriously? Without making excuses, how I it not drummed into every last player that they take NOTHING without running it by the training/ medical staff first? One or two would be a mishap. Things happen. Players make mistakes. But EIGHT over the past three years?

If this doesn't send out a flashing red warning light to the culture we like to think we've quashed but clearly haven't I don't know what does.

And jump on me for being reactionary or knee jerk all you like, but the buck HAS to stop with the Head Coach. The players need to stand up and accept their dumbass part of the blame. But the 'rules', for want of a better word; have to be drummed into them from the main man until it finally sticks and stops costing this team dear.

NO more excuses! This **** needs to change!

Otherwise, maybe we have to start having a long hard look at the ship the Coach is presiding over here.

Hail.

[SpacePenguin]

You're better than this, GHH.

The NFL's substance abuse policy is so vaguely defined that the players themselves don't know what's off-limits. Instead of blaming the coaching staff or something so comically intangible as the "culture" of the team, blame the NFL, or the FDA for having such a lax policy about what form ingredients are listed on the label as(Either they aren't listed at all, or are named something different than the commonly used name), or the players themselves for trusting such sketchy labeling.

Oh well. I suppose this will give the media trolls something new to gripe about Shanahan over lol...I just think it'd be nice if our own fans didn't do the same. Seriously. The Redskins won the NFC East. Do I need to repeat that so it sinks in?If Shanny wants the entire roster to submit to mandatory injections of his own banned special sauce of supplements, and 20 players are suspended for 4 games apiece....that'd be fine with me. He's earned the right imo.

This? Eight players over a few seasons? Whatever man, it's his team, and as far as I'm concerned he's running it well enough to not be second guessed every time something goes wrong. Just my opinion though.

[lavar1156]

Ehh who knows, maybe he would have blown out his knee in one of the first 4 games. He'll be a great week 5 addition.

[Gibbs Hog Heaven]

No question there's question marks over the leagues policy SP. They couldn't organise a piss up in a brewery under Herr Goodels watch.

But I can't agree this doesn't fall on our own organisation when we have so many in such a short space of time.

This is beyond ridiculous and something's going badly amiss here for it to keep on happening at such heavy costs to this team.

Hail.

[Year_of_The_Monk]

In no way should a player be suspended for what they got at GNC ie protein/recovery shakes. Everyone in the world goes to GNC for supplements and nutrition etc. If it is that bad for everyone then why do they even sale it? Plan and simple the league is just trying to sabotage us as always! If the public can buy said things and use them then the athletes should be able to do the same. As long as it's not roids, real drugs, HGH or some other super human stuff then who cares?

HAIL

[Gibbs Hog Heaven]

It doesn't matter if the **** that falls under PED's is in effect performance enhancing or not. (And most of the banned substances are ridiculous in the extreme.).

But they are on the list all the same so it matters when you violate it.

Hail.

[Year_of_The_Monk]

So mad right now at this. I was so expecting Jenkins to ball out of control this whole season. I bet the league has officials posing as cashiers at GNC. LOL

[MR2Drift]

Mike isn't these players babysitter. The league has a list authorized supplements the players can take, if the players choose something not on the list then the risk is on them. Most of these players are probably taking HGH among a myriad of other things and got caught, that is the nature of the beast in a league where performance=money.

[rdskn4eva]

Hey Jarvis, next time, just take your supplements to the team doctor and say, "Hey, is this good to go? Will i get banned?"

 

Problem solved.

[WheresRickySanders83]

Before folks cancel the season, remember that two of our first four games are against rebuilding teams and the other is a home game vs. a non-playoff team that has never won in DC.

[TK]

Did this REALLY need its own thread?

[MrJL]

The NFL looks good by suspending people.  If you have a policy and no one is ever punished under it then in the cynical modern world you're covering something up.  That's why they won't define things better

[skinfan2k]

Simple the redskins should have a store at their facility where they sell all things the players need.  They can ship them anywhere and the player can order them to the team or pick it up after practice.  case closed

[Gibbs Hog Heaven]

Did this REALLY need its own thread?

If I've overstepped the mark close it down if you like boss man or merge it.

I just personally felt the wider picture would make for interesting discussion but if it doesn't I apologise.

Hail.

[elkabong82]

Let's not act like they are all the same. A couple of them were bogus, specifically Rob Jackson's and especially Jordan Black's. Including them in your rant and saying they are part of a culture problem is more of a sign of an overreaction than anything else.

 

Probably a good idea not to make threads when you are upset about something (in this case Jarvis Jenkins), and especially when not all of the facts are out.

 

For all we know the supplement was checked off by the team and/or the manufacturer did not have it listed in its ingredients.

 

Unless you want to look at the details of each player suspension on our team and see if indeed it is a culture thing or if it is more a problem that lays with the NFL's rules overall, then simply pointing a finger does nobody any good.

 

Suspensions are a league-wide problem. 2 wrongs don't make a right, but at least most of ours seem to be over discrepancies between the NFL's list and supplement ingredients, as opposed to a place like Seattle where they are all getting popper for Adderall w/o a subscription because Carroll has always had a cheater culture in his football programs.

 

We haven't even checked to see what the league average is, if it truly is a huge problem or par for the course, which would also indicate it is more of an NFL rule/policy problem.

 

Long story short: Let's get to the root of the problem instead of just taking a topic and attaching a chicken little/sky is falling title to the thread.

[skinsfan1993]

We've had more suspensions for banned substences (8) than even the Seahawks (7) since 2010. Phillip Buchanon, Fred Davis, Trent Williams, Tanard Jackson, Cedric Griffon, Jordan Black, Rob Jackson, and now Jenkins.

 

I realise Goodell has stepped up his drug testing for the players (look at the list here), but to lead the league in players suspended since 2010 is not a good thing to celebrate.

[Gibbs Hog Heaven]

The HC has already alluded to Jenkins taking something unchecked and hoping the players now learn from his mistake Elk.

And again, a lot of the rule stipulations are ridiculous and a lot are vague. And we can go through every individual case of ours and excuse them away either legitimately or not.

But there comes a point when you've tacked up 8 in three years for whatever reason that you have to start looking hard at your own policy and culture surely? Davis and Williams for one. They get pinched after still having weed in their system in TC. And then do the EXACT same thing during the course of the season

Far from overreacting to Jenkins today, it seems to me to be the latest in a worrying trend here that ultimately costs this franchise heavily.

Hail.

[Springfield]

Don't even know what substance it was yet and it seems like 90% of the posters in this thread are ready to castrate Jenkins and petition that Snyder fire Shanahan.

Two things. We don't even know the whole story or any real details and we also aren't counting on Jenkins to be the RG3 of our defense.

Everything is fine.

[Morneblade]

Let's not act like they are all the same. A couple of them were bogus, specifically Rob Jackson's and especially Jordan Black's. Including them in your rant and saying they are part of a culture problem is more of a sign of an overreaction than anything else.

 

Probably a good idea not to make threads when you are upset about something (in this case Jarvis Jenkins), and especially when not all of the facts are out.

 

For all we know the supplement was checked off by the team and/or the manufacturer did not have it listed in its ingredients.

 

Unless you want to look at the details of each player suspension on our team and see if indeed it is a culture thing or if it is more a problem that lays with the NFL's rules overall, then simply pointing a finger does nobody any good.

 

Suspensions are a league-wide problem. 2 wrongs don't make a right, but at least most of ours seem to be over discrepancies between the NFL's list and supplement ingredients, as opposed to a place like Seattle where they are all getting popper for Adderall w/o a subscription because Carroll has always had a cheater culture in his football programs.

 

We haven't even checked to see what the league average is, if it truly is a huge problem or par for the course, which would also indicate it is more of an NFL rule/policy problem.

 

Long story short: Let's get to the root of the problem instead of just taking a topic and attaching a chicken little/sky is falling title to the thread.

El, I'm usually in agreement with you but this time I'm not. First, the league average is like 1-2, with most teams having zero. The Seahags "only" have had 5 and I agree with you, Carroll is a cheater. So, if 5 is bad, 8 is worse. So, we're about 400% over the league average. If this was coming out of Dallas, we'd just chalk it up to Jerry running a drug ring. Even if a couple of the suspensions were questionable, we're still the league leader and way above the league average. There is no good excuse for this. Players ought to have a list of exactly what they can take, and to not even consider something not on the list. If almost every other team can manage to do it, why can't we? Are our players just much bigger knuckleheads that other teams? I doubt it. It's got to come from the top and it has to be hammered home, cheating will get you in trouble, and if you're not sure, don't risk it.

[redskindan07]

I wonder if they will bring in another body to compete on the DLine

[Skinsfan1311]

These guys are constantly told to know what they are putting in the body.

 

CONSTANTLY.

 

Every busted athlete always has some excuse. Haven't heard a good one yet.

 

Next man up.

 

Exactly.

 

This is bull****. 

[Springfield]

I do not agree with the OP in the least.

The NFL is a huge organization full of many different types of characters. They all have one thing in common. They all want to be the very best at what they do. This can come in many aspects. Some will sit and watch film 20 hours a day. Some will work out three times a day. Some will make sure their diet is incredibly conducive to what they want to do. Most will do all of the above.

Supplements are a part of a players life. When you work out 6 days a week, supplements will get you ahead. EVERY player looks for the BEST way to get ahead.

THIS IS IN NO WAY A SYSTEMIC PROBLEM WITH THE TEAM. A systemic problem would be an organized effort to end careers of opposing players. A systemic problem would be an organized effort to videotape other teams practices. Players looking for te best way to be the best that they can be is NOT systemic.

Mike Shanahan did not set out to make all of his players take steroids and hope that nobody got caught. Hell, Davis and Williams were just trying to get high. In the end, these are all grown men who are accountable for their own actions.