Houston Texans: Why Jaelen Strong had to appeal his suspension

The Houston Texans may be without one of their top wide receivers in Week 1 as a suspension has been doled out.

As reported by the Chron’s John McClain, the Houston Texans caught wind of Jaelen Strong being suspended one game for a possession of marijuana charge dating back to February 2016. I honestly thought that this particular concern had been swept under the rug but the NFL still apparently wants to address it. The league actually has to because in the rule book, this level of punishment is mandatory. This news certainly isn’t the best to grap considering how thin we are as far as depth at his position going into the season.

Strong was arrested at the same time last year after being pulled over by police in Scottsdale, Ariz. Strong is an alumni of Arizona State and he was in town. Damarious Randall, a fellow former teammate was also in the vehicle with him. After agreeing to the search, the police found a cigar box with three marijuana “blunts”which led to his booking in the city’s local jail.

The charges have since been dropped as he completed a drug counseling program but apparently the NFL still wants to drop the hammer on such an event happening. Strong has kept his nose clean since those charges. So because of the team needing him out there and the fact that he has paid his dues, he will appeal the ruling awarded by Roger Goddell, who is likely without question the most disliked commissioner in all of pro sports by fans.

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Because of the aforementioned, Strong has every right to appeal the decision and he may have a shot at winning it. There’s no word when his hearing will be but he’ll know the final ruling of it within three days after it has occurred. I’m pretty sure he’d like to have this addressed sooner than later as the Sep. 10 home opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars is rapidly approaching.

In the worst case scenario, if Strong loses his appeal, it won’t be the worst thing in the world as I honestly believe we can still beat the Jags without him but it’s always prudent to have all of your firepower available to do the most damage to your opponent.

Strong, the former third-round pick in 2015, has caught 28 balls for 292 yards — 10.4 yards per catch — over the past two seasons with the Texans, being cut tremendously short as of late because of injury. But with him being relatively healthy and is performing solidly in camp, I’d expect him to have a breakout year. This suspension, if upheld, won’t hamper that forward motion at all.

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We’ll have to see how this all shakes out.

Go Texans.

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