Advertisement

Jets' Sheldon Richardson suspended Week 1 for conduct violation

The New York Jets already have a few pieces missing from a 10-6 team last season in unsigned quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick and franchised defensive lineman Muhammad Wilkerson. Now the Jets have another part that will be missing — for Week 1, that is.

Sheldon Richardson #91 of the New York Jets will have to sit out the 2016 opener after a one-game suspension. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)
Sheldon Richardson will have to sit out the 2016 opener. (Getty Images)

The NFL news-dumped announced on Thursday (right after dropping the Johnny Manziel news) that Jets defensive lineman Sheldon Richardson will be suspended for the first game of the season for personal-conduct policy violation. The Jets open up at home against the Cincinnati Bengals, who won the AFC North last season.

[Yahoo Fantasy Football is open for the 2016 season. Sign up now]

Richardson previously was arrested for driving 143 mph during a pursuit with police in the St. Louis-area. He also was charged with resisting arrest for the 2015 incident but was not charged with anything else despite driving with a 12-year-old in the car, despite having a loaded gun under his seat and despite police saying that they smelled marijuana in the car. Richardson pleaded guilty to the resisting arrest charge in January.

Richardson missed the first four games of the season in 2015 after being suspended for marijuana, which was not believed to be his first offense with the league.

Although he cannot practice with the Jets in the week leading up to the season, Richardson will not be limited from any team-related activities prior to that. The Jets will have a roster exemption for the first game. Richardson will be eligible to return for the Week 2 Thursday night game against his former coach, Rex Ryan, and the Buffalo Bills.

Richardson is pretty darned lucky — first that law enforcement didn’t hit him with any child-endangerment, gun-related or drug-related charges, and second that the NFL didn’t come down far harder on a player with a short record on their ledger.

But yes, by all means, NFL, spend millions of dollars and take up months of court time to stand behind a four-game hammer blow at Tom Brady, who may or may not have squeezed a few footballs before a game. Makes perfect sense.

– – – – – – –

Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at edholm@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!