Hue Jackson plans to play Josh Gordon 'as much as he can handle'
— -- BEREA, Ohio -- The Cleveland Browns are not soft-selling the return of receiver Josh Gordon.
Coach Hue Jackson has already compared having Gordon back to Christmas, and on Monday, Jackson's eyes lit up over the possibility of Gordon playing Sunday in Los Angeles against the Chargers.
"My plans for him? Oh boy, let me tell you," Jackson said. "I got big plans for him. I plan for him to play and play as much as he can handle."
Gordon is returning after being suspended for all of 2015 and 2016. He has not played in a regular-season game since December 2014, and has been suspended for 43 of the Browns' past 48 games.
The team's in-house media cameras followed Gordon as he walked onto the field for his first practice Wednesday and had two other brief videos of Gordon practicing, and of present-day practice mingled with past highlights of Gordon.
The Browns (0-11) can activate Gordon at any point; if they plan to play him Sunday, he?obviously would be activated this week. Jackson said the team would wait a few days.
"I think he is a very talented player," Jackson said. "He needs to play, needs to get out there and play, but we have to see where he is and make sure how much can he handle, how much can he do."
Jackson harkened back to 2013, when Gordon led the NFL in receiving yards with 1,646 in 14 games.
"He gives me energy, yeah, which means I am going to give [the team] energy, which means they will have energy," Jackson said. "Yeah, Josh is a good player. I don't want to make it more than what it is because he has not played for me really other than in the preseason games.
"Hopefully, Josh will come back and bring a different spirit to our offensive football team and he can make some plays. If he does that, then he will be doing just what we need him to do."
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