WR Josh Gordon:
On if he believed it was possible to be reinstated into the NFL:
"Yeah, definitely possible. I wasn't sure on the timeframe. Glad to be back."
On his emotions returning to the Browns facility yesterday:
"I was excited. I was definitely excited. Grateful for the opportunity more than anything. Real optimistic and everything. I am in a good spot, I think."
On how to reconcile Cleveland being the right place for him, given all that has occurred here before:
"I think just living it out, honestly and just seeing it through, seeing what is next. Ultimately, nobody knows what the future holds. As long as I stay trekking and control what I can control and do my part, the rest will either take care of itself or play itself out. I do not know, but I plan on approaching it the best way I can. The best way I know how is just doing what I can do."
On why he feels like he is in a good spot now as opposed to previous years:
"Now I know I have the support in place outside and inside of the building. My life is a just a conducive space of who I need to be for me. Psychologically and physically, it is all coming together. Right now at this point in time in my life, I am feeling well, I am feeling great."
On if he considers every day a battle:
"I believe it is easier; every day gets easier, but right now, I think I am just focused on the football aspect of it and the rest of the stuff I will take care of outside of here is where I like to keep it."
On what it will be like to play a game sober, given his comments in a recent GQ Q&A:
"In reference to anything, anything like I stated previously in Q & As or publications already out there, those questions have been asked and answered. For me, being here right now I think I am trying to relate everything back to football and taking advantage of the platform being here. Underneath this roof, I am sticking to the football facts, football basis, football-based questions and what I can do to help this team now."
On if the team feels new or unfamiliar, given the number of players who have remained on the roster since his last regular season game:
"It looks like a new team. I wouldn't say strange. I would say that it is the youngest team in the NFL, but altogether despite the odds, they remained poised and very mature for the situation that they are in. I am excited to get started with them and work with a lot of these guys. I have had the chance to talk to them. They are in a good spot, and I think you just have to know how to grind it out. It is a struggle the NFL. You have to work to keep at it."
On if he is taking a new look at playing in Cleveland, the organization and the fans:
"A new look? I look at every day as a new opportunity and making the best I can of what I am given and what I am told to do, but inside of my control that is all I have is working hard and continuing to perform at the best possible level I can. Anything else outside of that is outside of my control. I am staying optimistic."
On if he wants his career to resume in Cleveland:
"I am here to help the team win. That is my first priority. Being the best football player I can be, that comes first and foremost. Anything else after that I have no control over. I am here to help this team win and do that the best way I know how and that is being the best wide receiver."
On if he has moved on from the fact that the Browns seemed to be done with him in 2016:
"Considering my situation, I believe that is fair, just the frustration aspect of it. Myself, the franchise, the fans, everybody was frustrated at that point in time so I understand it. I believe me and (Head) Coach (Hue) Jackson, (Executive Vice President of Football Operations) Sashi Brown and the front office have moved on. They obviously welcomed me back into the organization so that being the past is the past, and we are looking forward to this year."
On if is coming back to Cleveland with a fresh slate:
"Do I feel that way? For me, yes. For me it is. For everybody else, I can't speak for anybody else, but for me, I am doing my part and for me it is a brand new thing. It is fresh faces, fresh experience, new opportunity, and I am excited about it."
On some of the people within the Browns organization that helped him make a transition back into the NFL:
"The organization in its entirety has been very instrumental in helping implement the transition back here. I am definitely appreciative of everybody. It has been a full job for everybody. I have leaned on everybody and they have been able to help me so I am thankful for that."
On if he is frustrated that he may only have the opportunity to play in five games this season, given the NFL significance of six games for a season:
"It worked out the way it worked out. I have no control over that situation. More than anything, I am just glad to be back playing in any capacity. The rest I think will take care of itself when it gets there."
On what it will be like to play a game sober, specific to the GQ interview:
"Like I said before, I think anything like that has already been stated, considering things in the past right now. I know I am clean and sober and I am looking forward to that and I think the ceiling is very high and there is a lot of potential there."
On playing sober for the time in his NFL career:
"Like I said, it is fresh opportunities. It is new for everybody, first off for me. Looking to take advantage of it and do the best I can."
On why he can return to playing at a high level:
"I feel confident for the mere fact of the amount of work I put in. That in and of itself is what I know can translate towards the field. I feel as though I work harder than anybody else in my position and I do that specifically to make sure I can ensure myself to be the best version of myself I can be. If I can get the rest of it, that is just extra for me, but I plan on being the best and I plan on working harder and outworking anybody else opposing me or anybody in the room just as far as it goes competition-wise just to create that atmosphere. For me, I am definitely confident in what I can produce and what I can put out there."
On Head Coach Hue Jackson's message to him yesterday:
"It was good. It was good. It was a bunch of laughs, a bunch of smiles. Coach Jackson is a great guy. He understands football. He understands players. Me and him have a good relationship. He is supportive more than anything. He has just shown his support throughout the entirety of my transition coming back. I am glad to be working with him and I am glad that he is here."
On his relationship with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and what he has done to help him:
"Commissioner Goodell has extended every resource possible. I definitely have to give a lot of thanks and gratitude toward the NFL, NFLPA and the program altogether, just allowing me the length of opportunity to give back and keep coming back and keep trying and keep trying. He has been with me side by side in that fact. Talking with him, he continued to show that love and that support. I am grateful to have him in my corner, and I know I can lean on him and rely on him. He has been open and available and just overall a real asset to me."
On the most he can hope for going forward:
"The most I could possibly hope for is being the best, as far as football goes, being the best wide receiver I can be, the best version of myself I can be, in the greatest shape possible and giving 100 percent. I feel as though I can stick to that plan, the rest will take care of itself, but ultimately, my goal is to be the best wide receiver of all time. I think any wide receiver, anybody at any position should see themselves in that way. They should work toward that goal. For me, that has always been my goal and I think it has just been reaffirmed for me time and time again. Now, being back in a situation to do it, I plan on seeing it through."
On if he has entered into a business relationship with LeBron James' company and if they will represent him going forward:
"I have not, but me and LeBron and guys over there, Mav Carter, they have been instrumental as far as just helping put things into play and giving advice and some mentorship so I definitely appreciate him and his camp as to what they do for me."
On if he has been watching Browns games this season and his impressions of QB DeShone Kizer:
"I have watched every game. He is young. Like any other rookie or young quarterback comes into the NFL, it is a tough transition. He is getting the brunt of that as a team altogether. It comes with experience. That is really the only great learning tool is experience. For him, I think that is where it is going to come into play somewhere down the road. I talked to him yesterday. He is adamant and really looking forward to getting in extra work. I told him our schedules conflict right now, but when you get a chance and you are not tired, let's get in some extra work. He was open to it. He approached me about it so I'm glad that is where his head is at and we have room to grow. That is great that he is there."
On the biggest factor that has helped him get to where he is today:
"I think a newfound obsession of improvement. Just wanted to get better and get better every day. I wake up every day with a new opportunity to be the best wide receiver that I could be, the best teammate that I could be, the best friend and every aspect of it. Just doing the most that I can do without any type of regret, without any type of shortcoming ultimately knowing that you are not going to succeed at everything, but those failures all come with experience and learned lessons. That is something that I definitely take and something that I need to use and something that I do implement in my everyday life."
On if he regrets not being on the field for 2.5 years of his prime, given his desire to be the greatest WR in NFL history:
"No regret. I think that whole experience was definitely fundamental in my growth. I needed that."
On if the QB position matters to him as a receiver, given his most successful season came with multiple QBs:
"I think that just goes back to reflect on just some of the aspects of working from within what I can work with and that is just doing what I can do regardless of the circumstances and the pieces around me. Hopefully, I can help where I can to bring somebody else up by doing my part and just showing and proving by example whoever it is that is out there on your team that this is the amount of work that should be put in to expect great things. For quarterbacks, whoever it may be, hopefully, consistently getting one that can improve himself and get acclimated and be there but show the example that if he can do it, I can do it. Hopefully, it is with DeShone Kizer, and we will see going forward."
On his day-to-day goal from a personal standpoint:
"Day-to-day basis is wake up and make sure that I can improve somewhere that I feel as though there is a fault or there is a weakness. I think every day there is something else to be worked on, whether it is on the field, outside of here, my relationship with my family or whomever it may be. I always have to continue to check in with myself and take those inventories specifically where I am at with it today and kind of practice self-care. That is what I try to do."
On becoming a father:
"I think all of it ties in very keenly to sports and to life. They intertwine very closely and similarly. From just overall stance of how I view life and my stance on life and the character in which I want to portray for my family, for my daughter and to be an example for my teammates and really live it out. For me, it definitely hits close to home on many different levels."
On if the interview with GQ was part of his recovery process:
"I'm just trying to be as transparent and honest as I can be in a professional way. In that platform, that was the way in which it was conveyed. I'm trying to do the best to control that narrative. For me, it is beneficial to kind of get out in front of it and let the rest of it take its natural course."
On if he believes the harassment from fans was simply a minority of fans:
"That was just my experience. I'm not saying that that is what it is for everybody. That was just my experience and me just telling a story. That was my truth, but what was doesn't have to be."
On if he was equally transparent with Goodell as he was with GQ:
"No, he would not be surprised. I was definitely just as transparent. That is the way I plan to move on forward in personal relationships, business relationships with people that need to know certain things in a professional manner or a non-professional manner as far as it goes just knowing that trust is there and putting it in proper context, which people will not want to exploit."
