Robert Quinn suspended two games for violating NFL policy; agent lashes out at ruling
Cowboys defensive end Robert Quinn, already out for the remainder of training camp and the preseason with a fractured hand, will now miss the first two regular season games due to an NFL suspension.
The league announced that Quinn violated the league’s policy on performance-enhancing substances and will be suspended for the first two games of the 2019 season.
Those games are the opener against the New York Giants at AT&T Stadium and a road game at the Washington Redskins.
Quinn is eligible to return on Sept. 16, following the Cowboys’ Week 2 game at Washington.
He is already back in Dallas and is scheduled to undergo surgery on a fractured left hand that he sustained in practice earlier this week.
Quinn’s agent, Sean Kiernan, released a statement saying he was “extremely disappointed in the NFL for following through with this suspension.”
“Rob has a medical history with seizures that requires him to take multiple doses of preventative medication daily to regulate them,” Kierman said. “He was tested on April 2 under the NFL Steroid Policy. He failed the test for a substance called probenecid, which is classified as a masking agent under the policy. He does not take any supplements and took nothing else during this period that would create a positive test for probenecid, in fact, he had no idea what probenecid was or what it was used for.”
Kierman went on to say that Quinn was tested at levels of “0.17 and 0.34 ng/mL of probenecid in his system.”
“To put that in perspective, if probenecid was used as a masking agent for steroids the dose would have to be between 500-2000 mL. Based upon information provided by our expert, these levels are essentially non-existent and at such a low level they should have been considered a false positive.”
Kierman said that this issue went to an NFL hearing where the league “admitted during the hearing that it did not believe Rob was intentionally doping”
“The arbitrator gave us a fair hearing, but the strength at which the league argued against Rob was incredibly disappointing.”
Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett said he trusts and supports Quinn.
“We really like everything he’s done for our team since he’s been here,” Garrett said. “We’re excited about his future with our team. His agent did come out with a long explanation of those circumstances. I don’t want to make any comment on that beyond the fact we trust Robert Quinn and we support him 100 percent and we can’t wait to get him back.”
The NFL, however, lashed back at Kierman and Quinn. Vice president Brian McCarthy said the case was appealed to a third party independent arbitrator, pursuant to the collective bargaining agreement with the NFL Players Association, and the suspension was upheld.
This marks the sixth straight year that a Cowboys player has been suspended to start the season and it marks the 17th suspension of a Cowboys player since 2014.
The two-game suspension will cost Quinn roughly $950,000 in base salary and per game roster bonuses.
The Cowboys could be fined up to $150,000 for having two players suspended, under the NFL’s remittance policy. If another player is suspended the fine could move to a maximum of $250,000.
It’s a huge setback for the Cowboys in terms of the roster building and depth heading into the 2019 season.
The Cowboys acquired Quinn in a trade with the Miami Dolphins in March to make up for the loss of indefinitely suspended defensive end Randy Gregory.
Quinn was considered a huge upgrade. He is a former Pro Bowl pass rusher who has 69 career sacks, and at last four in each of his eight pro seasons.
His status makes the defensive end position a mystery going into the season with DeMarcus Lawrence and Tyrone Crawford on the physically unable to perform list and recovering from off-season surgeries. Crawford is also likely facing a suspension from the NFL from a bar fight in Florida. His situation remains under review by the commissioner.
Gregory has not yet filed for reinstatement.
The position is currently being filled by Dorance Armstrong, former first-round pick Taco Charlton, Kerry Hyder, rookie Joe Jackson, Jalen Jenks, Shakir Soto and Ricky Walter and Daniel Wise.
“We’re going to see a lot of these young guys we have at all positions on the defensive line and see how the competition plays out,” Garrett said. “We’re excited about the front line guys that we have. We’re excited about the depth that we have on the defensive line. We’ve tried to very deliberately build it over the last few years and I think we’ve done a good job of that. You haven’t seen a lot of the veteran players out here yet. You have DeMarcus Lawrence coming back off an injury, as is Tyrone Crawford and some other guys. We like the group of guys we have and we’ll have competition here over the next three or four weeks to see who is part of our team and what their roles are.”
Only Armstrong, Charlton and Hyder have played games in the NFL.
This story was originally published August 8, 2019 at 3:16 PM.
