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Patriots suspend Glenn 'Detrimental conduct' leads to one-game penaltyPosted: Thursday November 29, 2001 9:43 AMUpdated: Friday November 30, 2001 2:00 AM
FOXBORO, Mass. (AP) -- The nameplate was gone from Terry Glenn's locker. Only an ankle brace was inside - no warmup clothes, no uniform. One day after going to practice with headphones but no helmet, the New England wide receiver, who has missed 10 of the team's 11 games, was suspended again Thursday by head coach Bill Belichick. His absence could last longer. "You have to ask him" Belichick said when asked if Glenn will rejoin the team when the suspension ends. Glenn wasn't available to answer that question -- "he'll be off the premises until next week," Belichick said. The suspension is "not injury-related. It's a disciplinary matter" resulting from developments Wednesday, Belichick said. He gave no other details. Glenn missed the first four games of the season while serving an NFL suspension for violating its substance abuse policy by missing a drug test. The Patriots wanted to suspend him for the season for leaving training camp but an arbitrator ruled in his favor.
The latest flareup occurred Wednesday. Glenn, slowed by a hamstring injury, was upgraded to probable on the team's injury report for the first time in seven weeks. That meant the club felt there was a 75 percent chance he would play Sunday at the New York Jets. New England, in playoff contention at 6-5, could use the deep threat. In his only game this year, he had seven receptions for 110 yards and a touchdown in a 29-26 win over San Diego on Oct. 14. Glenn attended Wednesday's practice wearing sweatclothes and headphones but left his helmet in the locker room. He worked out with injured players and didn't participate in the full practice. "It's been six weeks since the injury," Belichick said Thursday. "It's gotten better." Glenn's agent, James Gould, wouldn't comment, said his assistant, Miesha Cole. Glenn's friend, wide receiver Troy Brown, wants him back. "Even though he was suspended, he was always a part of our team. We were willing to welcome him back and we would greatly appreciate having him back," said Brown, who is tied for third in the NFL with 70 receptions. "I just hope that he can get all that stuff situated and be able to play again soon." Glenn has fought the team's decision to withhold $8.5 million of an $11 million signing bonus. Five grievances brought by Glenn -- including one seeking his bonus -- are unresolved. He also filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, apparently claiming that he missed the drug test because he suffers from chronic depression. He faces a court hearing next Tuesday on a motion to dismiss a misdemeanor charge of assault and battery on the mother of his son. Glenn is asking Wrentham District Court to approve two motions -- to limit police testimony on remarks by the mother of his son and to dismiss a misdemeanor charge of assault and battery on her. "I'm optimistic this will go well for us," Joseph Cataldo, Glenn's attorney, said Thursday. In an interview last Sunday night after New England's 34-17 win against New Orleans, Glenn implied that his injury was related to his bonus being withheld. "I'm bothered by a hamstring right now, and I'm not getting paid," he said on WBZ-TV. "You do the math." He also said he didn't see himself playing for the Patriots next year, but Belichick said the suspension was not related to the interview. Glenn had 79 catches last season, the first in which he didn't miss a game because of injury, but hasn't lived up to the potential of the seventh overall draft pick in 1996 when he caught 90 passes. He missed only the first game that year -- because of a hamstring injury. "Each player in this league comes in with the same opportunities," Belichick said. "They get a chance to practice, a chance to play. It's up to each individual to make his career." Where Glenn's is headed is anybody's guess. "I'm not trying to make any determination on the future right now. We're just dealing with the situation as it is," Belichick said. "Based on what happened, this is what I had to do."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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