CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Antonio Callaway's lawyer is working to get Callaway's accusation of marijuana possession dropped, and rescheduled the hearing for Sept. 20 in Strongsville Mayor's Court.

"We contest that he possessed it,'' attorney Kevin Spellacy told cleveland.com. "We believe it was something that was left in his car it was shipped up from Florida. Other people had access who had used his car."

Neither Spellacy nor Callaway had to appear this morning for the 8:30 hearing. Spellacy faxed his request for a continuance.

"I provided them with a shipping receiving receipt,'' Spellacy said. "The car was delivered approximately three days before he was stopped (at 2:59 on Aug. 5). It was brought up from Florida. The amount of marijuana was .05 grams. It's basically smaller than a dime, and it was under the seat."

Spellacy noted that "you wouldn't know it was there unless you crawled on the floor and looked under the seat with a flashlight. That's how small it was."

Callaway, the Browns fourth-round pick out of Florida, told coach Hue Jackson and GM John Dorsey that it was a small roach, or tip of a joint, left under the seat by someone. He told Strongsville police it was his brother's, according to the police report. He was cited for possession.

"I've been given the description of the size, and it's minute,'' said Spellacy.

As for driving with the suspended license, Spellacy said that's been straightened out and he hopes to resolve both matters simultaneously at the Sept. 20 hearing.

"His license is valid,'' Spellacy said. "He had an outstanding ticket that had to be paid. He had actually paid the ticket, but the paperwork had not been sent to the Department of Motor Vehicles. They kind of crossed in the mail so to speak. The infraction was taken care of, but the paperwork hadn't caught up.''

Jackson and Dorsey both believe Callaway's story that the marijuana wasn't his, and Jackson warned him, in a scene captured on HBO's Hard Knocks, that if he's lying "I'll have your a--.''

The outcome of the hearing is significant because Callaway is in Stage 1 of the NFL's substance abuse program by virtue of his dilute urine specimen at the NFL combine in March, after which he admitted that he had smoked marijuana in the weeks leading up to the combine.

Subject to random drug testing, Callaway can't afford any missteps in these first 90 days of Stage 1 because he risks being fined 3/17th of his $480,000 base salary or being advanced to the more stringent Stage 2 of the program.

Despite the traffic stop and Callaway's failure to inform the team, he's remained in the starting lineup opposite Jarvis Landry, although he missed the last few days of camp with a groin injury and could sit out tonight's third preseason game against the Eagles at FirstEnergy Stadium.

Once Josh Gordon returns to practice, as early as Saturday, Callaway could be back with the second team at the X position. He'll also likely be opposite Gordon on the outside in three receiver sets, with Landry moving into the slot.

Four days after the incident, Jackson not only started Callaway in the preseason opener against the Giants, but made him play into the fourth quarter as partial punishment for his mistake after not playing in a game since the end of the 2016 season at Florida. He also made Callaway apologize to his teammates in a meeting.

On Tuesday, Jackson called the Callaway situation probably the most difficult issue he faced in camp "because here's a young player and I want him to get off to the right start, not the wrong one. That's important.

"A player that comes here wants to prove that he wants to be here. When things happen that way, you have to handle it right for his future and for the organization, as well. I think that we did that. I think he's remorseful for what he did. I think that he understands everything that comes with that, and that there's a chance that you cannot be here; that you have to do it right. That is the message that I send to any young player. 'We will work with you if you will be honest and up front, but we have no tolerance for B.S.'"

Jackson stressed that the club will continue to provide Callaway and other young players the structure they need now that camp is over and the players are no longer staying in the team hotel with a nightly curfew.

"Now that they're away, it doesn't mean that we're going to let them go,'' he said. "We still have to provide that structure and leadership and give them some guidelines as they go. I think we've done that. We've sat down as a group with those players and have kind of mapped out and laid out what the expectation is.

"We're in this together. Our job is to get them through all of this over the next six, seven months - whatever that is - so that they can make it through the season the right way."