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NFL News: Vikings’ Thomas Suspended, Collins Breaks Leg and More

Roc Thomas Vikings
Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports

In what may cost him a job in the NFL, Minnesota Vikings bench running back Roc Thomas has been suspended for the first three games of the 2019 NFL season for violating the league’s substance abuse policy.

Thomas was busted on Jan. 16 for felony drug possession in Dakota County, Minn. He had 143.28 grams of marijuana on him, a gun and $15,800 in cash. Thomas appeared in five games last season, rushing eight times for 30 yards and catching two passes for 21 yards. Far down the depth chart, there’s no reason the Vikings won’t just cut him and add another free agent to take his place.

Minnesota signed Thomas as an undrafted free agent out of Jacksonville State in 2018.

Alex Collins has surgery to repair broken leg

Alex Collins had yet to land on a team as a free agent. Now, it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen in 2019. Collins rushed 114 times for 411 yards and seven touchdowns with the Baltimore Ravens, averaging 3.6 yards per carry. He averaged 4.6 yards per carry in 2017, with 974 yards and six touchdowns.

Collins was waived by the Ravens back in March after he was arrested following a car crash when Baltimore County police officers detected the smell of marijuana. Clearly he has some value and any team would be wise to add him to its running back room. But that’s not going to happen until he heals up. Of course, the NFL could always hand out a suspension from NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell too once that happens.

Collins broke his leg two weeks ago.

“I refuse to be discouraged,” Collins wrote in an Instagram post. “Instead, I have faith and am optimistic about the process. I believe that all that has happened is making me physically and emotionally stronger, and is necessary for me to succeed in life.”

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Written by Adam Greene

Adam Greene is a writer and photographer based out of East Tennessee. His work has appeared on Cracked.com, in USA Today, the Associated Press, the Chicago Cubs Vineline Magazine, AskMen.com and many other publications.

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