ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Denver Broncos cornerback A.J. Bouye has been suspended for six games for violating the NFL’s policy on performance-enhancing substances.
The NFL made the suspension official Wednesday with a statement, adding that Bouye would be “able to participate in offseason and preseason practices and games.”
It means Bouye, who was acquired in a trade with the Jacksonville Jaguars this offseason, will miss the Broncos’ final four games of this season and would have to sit out the first two games of the 2021 season.
“I was disappointed for him,” coach Vic Fangio said Wednesday. “Players have to make really, really good judgments with the people they trust with their career and with their finances. Obviously something went wrong with this person he dealt with and trusted. It’s a disappointing situation for everybody.”
According to sources, Bouye is in a similar situation as Houston Texans wide receiver Will Fuller V and Texans cornerback Bradley Roby, who were suspended for six games each last week for violations of the policy.
In a statement, Fuller said, in part: “Earlier this year, I sought treatment from a medical professional who prescribed medication that he believed to be permitted under the NFL’s drug policy. As it turns out, my trust in this professional was misplaced because this medication was NOT a permitted substance under the NFL Policy on Performance Enhancing Substances.”
On Twitter Roby had posted: “(A) few months ago, I unknowingly used a product that was contaminated with a banned substance by the NFL. I recognize that it is my job to know, and be responsible for, everything I put in my body.”
Fuller’s and Roby’s suspensions will cover their final five games this year and the season opener in 2021. Bouye and Fuller were teammates with the Texans in 2016.
The suspension means Bouye, who is 29 and has a $13 million base salary this season (he’ll lose just over $3 million of that this year with the suspension), will have played in just seven games this season. He missed four games with a shoulder injury this season and missed the Broncos’ loss in Atlanta when he was in the concussion protocol.
He has struggled at times in his return from each of those injuries and has 21 tackles this season.
With cornerback Bryce Callahan (foot) on injured reserve, Bouye’s suspension would mean the already injury-riddled Broncos defense would also be without its starting two cornerbacks.
