Cowboys running back Joseph Randle is making plenty of headlines this week. Shortly after word broke that Randle left the team facility and missed a treatment session on his injured oblique, Adam Schefter and Todd Archer of ESPN report that the back is facing discipline from the NFL for an offseason incident.
Randle was arrested in February in Wichita, Kansas for unlawful possession of marijuana after police received a call for an alleged domestic incident involving Randle and the mother of his son. Charges against the 23-year-old were dropped in April, but the NFL continued its own investigation, meeting with Randle over the summer, and within the past week, according to the ESPN report.
It’s not known yet if Randle will receive a suspension or merely a fine for the incident, but it appears he’ll be disciplined by the league in some form. Ian Rapoport of NFL.com – who notes that the NFL is applying the personal conduct policy, rather than the domestic conduct policy, in its investigation – tweets that Randle will likely face a one- or two-game suspension.
In light of this new information, it seems that the NFL’s investigation may have played a part in Randle’s absence earlier this week, but that’s still not entirely clear. For what it’s worth, Archer and Schefter hear from sources that his absence from the Cowboys’ facility was “about more than just losing his starting job” to Darren McFadden. Randle is expected to meet with Dallas coaches on Thursday.
Randle’s incidents do not make him worth the trouble. He’s a running back who may be above average on a good day. This is a lot of distractions for a player at a replaceable position with potentially more-talented, albeit less-consistent, cogs behind him.
The Cowboys way.