Todd Archer reports that the Cowboys will keep Randy Gregory on the team despite his indefinite suspension for violating the league's substance abuse policy. (0:36)

Dallas Cowboys pass-rusher Randy Gregory has been suspended indefinitely for again violating the NFL's substance abuse policy and the terms of his conditional reinstatement, the league announced Tuesday.

Gregory missed all but two games in 2016 and the entire 2017 season because of multiple violations of the policy in his first two seasons with the Cowboys. He returned to play in 14 games in 2018 and finished second on the Cowboys with six sacks and 28 quarterback pressures.

According to sources, the Cowboys were aware Gregory was facing another penalty and were not caught off guard by the news.

"Nobody is in panic mode," Gregory's attorney, Daniel Moskowitz, said. "He's going to do everything and anything he can to get back on the field as soon as possible."

Gregory fell to the Cowboys in the second round of the 2015 draft after a failed drug test at the scouting combine and issues at Nebraska scared teams off. Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones was willing to take a chance on Gregory and hoped the structure the team had around him would keep him on the right path.

As per terms of the drug policy, Gregory was tested up to 10 times a month last season and he was required to have meetings with the league's medical director.

"I certainly commend what he did last year," Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said of Gregory on Tuesday, before the suspension was announced. "I mean he came in after not playing ball for over a year, and I think he really played well and was working himself into it.

"Certainly he has his challenges ... continues to have them. I don't think those things go away, so we're going to keep working and cheering for him and I think he'll only get better as it goes because he's got all the skills to be a great pass-rusher and certainly flashed that at times last year. I think he's just got to take the next step both on and off the field."

Under terms of the suspension, Gregory can't participate in the Cowboys' offseason program and can only visit the team's practice facility to meet with an individual concerning his treatment.

After his yearlong suspension, Gregory was reinstated by the league last July after meeting with commissioner Roger Goodell. During his time away from the game, Gregory told ESPN that he spent more than six months in a rehabilitation center and a sober-living house in California, held a job and concentrated on putting his life in order.

He played in 12 games as a rookie in 2015, missing four with an ankle injury. He ended up in the NFL's substance abuse program in 2016 and was initially suspended the first four games of that season. Another failed test led to an additional 10 games, but he was able to return for the final two regular-season games.

ESPN's Adam Schefter and Elizabeth Merrill contributed to this report.