Redskins' Kedric Golston on Richard Sherman: 'He's a cheater'

ASHBURN, Va. — Washington Redskins linebacker Lorenzo Alexander was discussing whether Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman should be on the field for Sunday's NFC wild-card game after Sherman won his drug appeal on a technicality and had a four-game suspension overturned last week.

As Alexander spoke Friday, defensive tackle Kedric Golston leaned in from his adjacent locker and injected his opinion:

"He's a cheater,'' Golston said, then walked away.

"It is what it is,'' Alexander told USA TODAY Sports. "I don't know what his total case and background of it is, or about the paperwork he did. He was doing Adderall, Ritalin, the same thing that (Redskins cornerback) Cedric (Griffin) was doing, I believe. I know there's a (testing) procedure you have to do and even then, they can still hit you for it. It is what it is.''

Griffin was hit with a four-game suspension for violating the league's policy on performance-enhancing drugs, but Sherman — reported by USA TODAY Sports to have tested positive for Adderall, according to persons with knowledge of the results — beat his rap when an arbitrator ruled the collection procedure was flawed because of a leaky urine specimen cup.

"We're not going to wish someone a positive drug test and a four-game suspension just to win a game,'' Redskins cornerback DeAngelo Hall said. "We're out there and going to take it to them, regardless of who is out there. May the best team win.

"I'm happy he won it. I don't know all the details of it. If he won his appeal, he won his appeal. We obviously would have been better off it he wasn't playing, but he's out there. We have to deal with who's out there. There's nothing we can do about it."

Defensive tackle Barry Cofield said the Redskins can't let the issue become a distraction — even if Sherman ridiculed Redskins wide receivers to USA TODAY Sports on Wednesday.

"We can't worry about it, there's absolutely nothing we can do about it,'' he said. "If we spend one second worrying about that instead of focusing on Russell Wilson and Marshawn Lynch, that's going to hurt us.

"I guess that's why they have rules. The same rules the NFL imposes on us, they have to follow those same rules and guidelines when they handle the tests.''