Dallas Cowboys defensive end David Irving is facing a four-game suspension to start the season for violating the NFL's policy against performance-enhancing drugs, a source said.
Irving is appealing the failed drug test. The suspension stems from Irving using a banned supplement, the source said.
Neither the NFL nor the Cowboys have made any official announcement about Irving's suspension. The suspension was first reported by KRLD-FM 105.3 The Fan.
NFL players almost always appeal failed drug tests and rarely does the league side with the players.
Irving was the Cowboys' most productive pass-rusher late last season. He led the Cowboys with 26 quarterback pressures and added four sacks.
Irving was expected to be a key part of the Cowboys' pass rush again this year after he signed his exclusive free-agent tender this offseason for $615,000. He's set to become a restricted free agent after 2017.
Irving joined the Cowboys early in the 2015 season from Kansas City's practice squad. He went undrafted in 2015 out of Iowa State.
At 6-7, 284, Irving is also valuable disrupting a quarterback's vision at the line of scrimmage or attempting to block a field goal or extra-point attempt.
Last June, Cowboys defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence was also suspended the first four games of the 2016 season for violating the league's policy against performance-enhancing drugs. His appeal was denied.
Cowboys defensive end Randy Gregory, a 2015 second-round pick, is suspended for the entire 2017 regular season after multiple violations of the NFL's substance abuse policy because of failed tests for marijuana.
