Despite the suspension of three of its players over the last week for drug violations, the unbeaten Carolina Panthers keep rolling. Frank Alexander, Stephen Hill and Wes Horton have all been banned by the NFL.
For Alexander, this is his third suspension over the last two seasons. He began the 2014 campaign with a four-game penalty, then was docked another 10 games during the season. The third-year defensive end out of Oklahoma will sit out a year's worth of games (16). He's acknowledged that the substance is marijuana.
Prior to the 2015 season, he stated about his cannabis use:
'I didn’t do it before I went to work. I didn’t do it at work. It was simply like after I got out of practice, I wanted to kind of relax and chill. It kind of healed my body up.'
Hill's one-game ban is due to his arrest for drug paraphernalia (pipe and a grinder) on July 28.. The third-year receiver out of Georgia Tech has a torn ACL.
Third-year defensive end Horton will sit out four games for a PED violation.
More than 30 players have been suspended by the NFL for drug violations in 2015. In addition to Alexander, All-Pros Josh Gordon and Aldon Smith have received one-year bans for drugs and alcohol.
