Jets second-year DT Nathan Shepherd is facing a six-game suspension for a PED violation, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.
Shepherd did not suit up Week 1 after playing every game his rookie season. He recorded a total of 15 tackles in five total starts during his rookie campaign.
Shepherd told NFL.com that he is facing a six-game suspension for two separate violations of the league’s performance-enhancing drug policy.
The two failed tests came on June 27 and July 25 while Shepherd was recovering from shoulder and groin injuries. The shoulder injury could eventually require surgery. He underwent an MRI on his groin that revealed he needed sports hernia surgery. In response to a change in posture, Shepherd had multiple herniated discs in his back.
With little time to recover and a need to impress a regime that did not draft him, the small-school product turned to PEDs.
“I made a rash decision, an unwise decision and a selfish decision to look to certain PEDs in order to help me with that recovery process so I would be ready to go,” Shepherd told NFL.com.
Shepherd, 25, was a third-round draft pick last year out of Fort Hays State whose unique journey to the NFL made him an interesting story. A native of Ajax, Ontario, Shepherd attended Simon Fraser University in British Columbia for two years before he could no longer afford tuition. Shepherd then spent the next two years working numerous jobs in order to save up enough money to return to school and the football field.
In 2015, Shepherd left Canada and wound up at Fort Hays State in the middle of Kansas. It was there that Shepherd became an NFL prospect and earned an invite to the Senior Bowl.
Shepherd projected as a 3-4 defensive end, but didn’t impress much last season. With the recent suspension, Shepherd’s NFL future is in limbo.
