CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Tim Montgomery, the former Olympic Gold medalist and world-record holder who's been working with Josh Gordon, said the Browns receiver is still in rehab but hopes to have his indefinite drug ban lifted soon after he gets out on Sept. 21.

"He's coming," Montgomery told cleveland.com. "I think he's going to be there this season."

Montgomery, who owns N.U.M.A. Speed in Gainesville, Fla., said Gordon checked himself back into rehab on June 21 in the hopes that a 90-day stint would be enough to convince the NFL to let him back in the league.

It's Gordon's fourth known trip to rehab, and he's set to be released in a little over a week.

"He's been clean, so we're hoping after 90 days he's reinstated and they put him back in the league, which it looks like they're going to do that,'' said Montgomery.

Gordon's bid for reinstatement was denied May 11, but the NFL told him he could re-apply again in the fall. The NFL declined comment Tuesday because of the confidential nature of the substance abuse program.

But NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell will likely proceed with caution given that Gordon has been suspended for 43 of his last 48 games and has faltered each time he's been let back in, including last season on a conditional basis.

The Browns will also have to decide if they want him.

"We care first and foremost in the league about the young man and that's where the focus will remain until we get to that point,'' Browns head of football operations Sashi Brown said last month.

But Montgomery is convinced that the NFL will find a truly rehabbed Gordon this time around.

"From what I've seen, he's in a different place than what he was six, seven months ago,'' said Montgomery. "He's come a long, long way from when we first started working together.''

Montgomery specializes in working with athletes who have troubled pasts. He was stripped of his records in 2005 after he admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs, and served four and half years in prison for a check fraud scheme and selling heroin.

Montgomery's facility, N.U.M.A. Speed, stands for "never underestimate my ability.''

Gordon moved to Gainesville to live with his business manager Michael Johnson, who knows Montgomery's partner from college. They paired Gordon with Montgomery, who went to work on Gordon's mind as well as his body.

"Josh feels like he's been let down by the people closest to him,'' said Montgomery. "Where Josh comes from, marijuana is considered like a cigarette. That's just his mentality. Josh has been tossed around. He goes to college and he gets kicked out. Then he goes to the NFL and he gets kicked out. Josh feels like he's been punished repeatedly for something everyone else is doing.''

Montgomery said Gordon has floundered without the structure of a team for the past several years. He hasn't played in a game since December of 2014, and succumbed to the frustration last season during the conditional reinstatement.

"Josh tried to beat the system,'' said Montgomery. "He tried to numb his brain from his past, from being disappointed. 'So if you're not going to let me smoke, I'll start drinking.' When Josh first came to me, he was dipping and he was smoking Black and Milds. He needed to do something because they had taken everything else away from him.''

Montgomery said he worked so hard with Gordon that "when he didn't get reinstated in May, I was devastated. But I told him when he came to me, 'I took you on for life. I ain't taking you on as a project.' It wasn't until he didn't make it and I was still there that he understood it.''

He said he believes Gordon was denied reinstatement in May because he missed his mandatory drug tests.

"It's my understanding that Josh was clean, but that he wasn't answering his phone,'' said Montgomery. "Josh would go somewhere and he wouldn't tell anyone he was going out of town and he wouldn't pick his phone up. He didn't want to tell his people 'I can't come out there because I've got to stay here and answer the phone for drug tests.'''

Montgomery said Gordon "almost got to the end. It was March when he started messing up."

He said he believes Gordon might have been afraid of his superstar ability.

"He sabotages his success,'' said Montgomery. "He gets in his own way. But I think it will be different this time."

Montgomery said he saw Gordon two weeks ago when they let him out of rehab on a day pass.

"He's about 231 right now, and he's been working out there, so it won't take him long,'' said Montgomery. "He came in here (two weeks ago) he was out of shape and hadn't caught a football in two months, but that football didn't hit the ground.''

He said Gordon filmed an interview that day for Uninterrupted, LeBron James' website for athletes' videos and podcasts.

"He told them a lot of stuff that I didn't even know,'' said Montgomery. "He opened up really, really big. I think the mask is off. What I saw that day was very deep.''

Montgomery said if Gordon played for him, "I would've said to him 'what do you need from me to help you succeed?' The only person who can help Josh Gordon -- is everyone. Not just Josh Gordon. Because if he could, he would. He cannot do it on his own."

He said the Browns were understandably upset when Gordon blew his opportunity last fall, and seemingly slammed the door shut on a comeback.

"Josh was bitter at first but now he understands that if he wants to play football, he better play football where ever they let him play football or he's going to be playing flag football with me,'' said Montgomery. "In fact, he wanted to go down to the game in Tampa when they were there, but he couldn't get out of the (rehab facility) to go. If the Browns want him, he'll go back there and he'll play hard.''

Montgomery said Gordon has surrounded himself with people who support his sobriety, but knows it will be difficult if he's reinstated.

"That's the hard part, because he's got to go around his same demons," said Montgomery. "He'll be around the high rollers and the people who want to be with Josh Gordon, and that could be a problem. He loves the game of football, but he's so easily distracted just because he has no one to let down.''

Montgomery said he hopes a team will be willing to develop Gordon the person as much as the player.

"He wants to be wanted, but he also needs a team that says 'if we keep you happy mentally, we know you'll help this team,'" he said. "They really need to care about his mental (health).''

He said he believes Gordon is ready to make a go of it this time.

"I'm just praying daily that he can wake up and walk out of there,'' said Montgomery.