Holmgren says Joe Haden has been suspended, waiting to hear from NFL on appeal

Tuesday morning, team president Mike Holmgren told 92.3 The Fan (via the Cleveland Plain Dealer) that Joe Haden had been suspended and that he already had gone through the appeals process. Now, the Browns are waiting to hear back from the league to see if that suspension will be overturned or shortened.

Cleveland's Joe Haden is waiting to hear if his four-game suspension will be reduced. (US Presswire)

When reports surfaced that Browns cornerback Joe Haden had failed a drug test -- supposedly it was for Adderall -- it was thought that Haden would have to miss four games, a devastating consequence for his team.

We hadn’t heard much since then, but Tuesday morning, team president Mike Holmgren told 92.3 The Fan (via the Cleveland Plain Dealer) that Haden had been suspended and that he already had gone through the appeals process. Now, the Browns are waiting to hear back from the league to see if that suspension will be overturned or shortened.

“I suspect if we haven't heard by now, we'll have him for the first game,” Holmgren said.

Holmgren also said he wasn’t sure if that theory actually is legit (I suspect that it isn’t).

What is legit is the worry about how Cleveland will cope without Haden, who is the Browns' best player on defense. Dimitri Patterson apparently will fill in for Haden when his suspension begins, but he clearly is a huge drop-off from Haden.

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