Alshon Jeffery’s PED suspension and why no one cares (but should)

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(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

Alshon Jeffery has been suspended for violating the NFL’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs, and given the Bears’ miserable season, it’s apparent that the wide receiver hasn’t been sharing with teammates whatever he has been taking.

That’s what the Bears are these days, all punch lines and punching bags.

It’s only right that a spirit-sapping, 36-10 loss to the Buccaneers on Sunday be followed by the Monday announcement of a four-game suspension for one of the few stars on the team. The Bears are bad, they’re low on talent and one of their best players cheated. If someone were to put out a movie chronicling this season (and please don’t), those would be the leading themes.

Like clockwork, Jeffery tweeted late Monday afternoon that he unknowingly took a banned substance that somehow ended up in a league-approved, over-the-counter supplement. That’s what every nabbed NFL player says these days, as they shift legs the size of tree trunks. And maybe that’s exactly what happened to Jeffery. But the greater truth is that lots of professional athletes are using PEDs and that, because drug science is always ahead of drug testing, you have to be pretty careless to get caught.

Jeffery is a free agent after the season, but don’t worry about his future earning power. The suspension won’t damage his negotiating position. PED use isn’t looked down upon in the NFL. You’re not considered a bad person for using pharmaceutical means to improve your game; again, you’re considered dumb for testing positive. As for the viewing public, we’re very selective about our outrage. An Olympic swimmer tests positive for a banned substance, and we get our Speedos in a bunch. The defilement of sport! An NFL player tests positive, and everybody shrugs: Of course they’re cheating. How else are they supposed to get to be 325 pounds of muscle?

Meanwhile, impressionable high school players look at PEDs and think they’re no big deal. Never mind that steroids and human growth hormone can lead to serious health issues.

Bears coach John Fox said Monday that he was “very disappointed’’ by Jeffery’s suspension but compared it to an injury. The Bears will find someone to take the receiver’s place for the four games he’ll miss. Next cheater … I mean, next man up. (It does make you wonder what infraction would rise to the level of scandal in Fox’s world. Robbery? Embezzlement? Sharing injury information with the media? Ding!)

“I look at it just like a lot of things we’ve been through already,’’ Fox said of the suspension. “We’re going to have to have somebody step up. That’s the way we’ll treat it. Nobody comes to rescue you, as I’ve mentioned before. Everybody else is going to have to play that much better.’’

Jeffery is one of the team’s captains, but I can’t stress this enough: Separate the drug suspension from anything you might think has to do with character, at least in the team’s view of the world. There’s a good football player, and there’s that unfortunate thing that happened to him. When he comes back in four weeks, the Bears will not have affixed a scarlet letter to his jersey.

In the NFL, some things are forgivable (a drug suspension), and some aren’t (Jeffery’s false start after a timeout Sunday). Welcome to the league, where priorities are a bit askew.

The rap against Jeffery has been that he can’t stay healthy. Maybe that led to his trip to the medicine cabinet. Maybe the promise of a large contract did.

“You’d have to ask him that,’’ Fox said.

Jeffery is a fine player, but if a team is 2-7 with him, how much of a dropoff can there possibly be without him? Worse than how the Bears played against Tampa Bay? Hard to believe.

“I think these guys have done pretty good about handling things, whether it’s been injury or now suspension,’’ Fox said of his team. “At the end of the day, we’re without somebody for a term of time. They understand what’s at stake.’’

What is at stake, really? Not a playoff spot. And if the Bears or other NFL teams are convinced that Jeffery, with his 6-foot-3 frame and long wingspan, can help them, he’ll get his big contract. Not much at stake for him either.

I mentioned after the Buccaneers game that the Bears had hit rock bottom, what with the bad defeat and the loss of guard Kyle Long, who suffered an ankle injury. And then came the Jeffery suspension. I won’t make that mistake again. I’m leaving room below for further descent.


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