FOXBOROUGH, MA – SEPTEMBER 30: Patriots Josh Gordon during second quarter. New England Patriots hosted the Miami Dolphins at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, MA on Sept. 30, 2018. (Photo by Jim Davis/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
As a result of tardiness, Josh Gordon will miss the first quarter of Monday night’s game in Buffalo.
As expected, wide receiver Josh Gordon has a whole new set of expectations now that he’s playing for Bill Belichick in New England.
Gordon has made an impact since being acquired by the Patriots from the Cleveland Browns, having even caught a touchdown from Tom Brady. But just because he’s playing well with his new team does not mean he will be treated any differently than anyone else.
According to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, Gordon is being disciplined for tardiness. He will be kept out of action for most of the first quarter as the Patriots take on their AFC East rival Buffalo Bills on Monday Night Football.
Ultimately, this shouldn’t be that big of a deal. Gordon is only going miss one quarter of a game against a team that the Patriots are favored to beat by two touchdowns. It’s not too harsh of a punishment, but it makes sense with the way that Belichick runs things in New England.
If there are two things that will earn you a fast track right to the bench, it’s fumbling the football or showing up late to a practice or other team activity.
We’ve seen Belichick discipline players this way in the past. In the 2014 season, Jonas Gray rushed for 201 yards and four touchdowns in a game against the Indianapolis Colts, and the very next week he didn’t play a single snap because he missed Friday practice.
We aren’t sure what it was exactly that Gordon was late too (assuming it was a practice), but at least Belichick is coming down much less harder on him than he did on Gray four years ago.
If Gordon can just get through this first quarter, then he should be good to go from there on out — as long as he remembers to show up on time in the future.