Detroit Lions wide receiver Jameson Williams has been suspended for an unspecified doping offense and will miss the team’s next two games, the player confirmed.
“This week I was notified by the NFL that I have been suspended for a violation of the Performance Enhancing Substances Policy,” Williams wrote in a statement.
“The news came as a complete surprise that I am still trying to understand.”
Williams, who will sit out Sunday’s home game against the Tennessee Titans and then the trip to the Green Bay Packers on November 3, said he had never sought performance enhancing drugs.
“I don’t take supplements or vitamins and I am overly cautious about even taking over-the-counter medicine. At no time have I ever taken something in an attempt to cheat or look for an unfair advantage,” he said.
Williams, who served a four-game ban last season for breaching the NFL’s gambling policy, indicated he would not be appealing the suspension.
“It is disappointing to accept this suspension,” he said while noting, “I have to take accountability in this instance.”
The NFL is not a signatory to the World Anti-Doping Association (WADA) code and instead conducts its own in-house anti-doping program.
Suspensions for breaches of the NFL’s policy tend to bring suspensions significantly shorter than those in sports that operate with the WADA code.
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