Joe Haden returns this week after missing four games due to an NFL suspension.

(Photo by John Kuntz, The Plain Dealer)

BEREA, Ohio -- Pat Shurmur didn't spend much time listening to cornerback Joe Haden's apology when he returned to the Cleveland Browns' facility Monday after Haden's four-game suspension for taking the prescription drug Adderall.

"[He said] 'All right Joe, we can't be upset about this. We have to move forward,'" said Haden. "I'm telling him I'm sorry and he's trying to give me the game plan [for Cincinnati]. He just wants to get it going."

That's because the Browns went 0-4 in Haden's absence to slip to 0-5. No amount of "I'm sorry" is going to bring those games back.

"I'd like to apologize to my fans, Haden Nation, the Cleveland Browns organization, front office, all the coaches," said Haden, the Browns' man about town. "I hurt myself for sure, but I hurt a lot of people with the decision I made and I just want everybody to know that I sincerely apologize from the bottom of my heart. There's no script. Nobody told me what to say. Everybody makes mistakes, but my mistake happened to hurt a lot more people than I thought."

Haden, 23, admitted to taking the banned stimulant, but declined to confirm that he used it to stay up while partying in Las Vegas during the off-season. A league source, however, confirmed that the Vegas story is true.

"I took Adderall and I shouldn't have, and I got suspended, and now I'm back and that's it," he said. "It was just a dumb mistake and it wasn't any intent to hurt the team or anybody. It was just a young man making a decision I shouldn't have made."

Haden, who will start Sunday, declined to say whether or not he had a prescription for the drug, which is used to treat attention deficit disorder. He was also vague about what he argued in the appeal.

"Me and my agent [Drew Rosenhaus] had an angle that we were wanting to go at it," he said. "The way that I ended up taking [the drug, not to enhance a performance], we thought we'd be able to get out of it, but it didn't work."

He admitted that he thought the four games were excessive.

"God, do I," he said. "[But] it's written. It's in there. I should have been more knowing what was going on but I've definitely served my four-game suspension, everything is up and I honestly just want to come out here and play."

Haden swallowed the tough pill of losing his Pro Bowl eligibility. "I did what I shouldn't have, so whatever punishment I'm willing to take. I just know I'm going to have Pro Bowl numbers by the end of the year."

As for whether or not he cost the team wins, he said, "I'm not saying I cost them, and [I'm] not saying I would have got picks. I'm just saying that if I'm out there then I'm a definite help to the team."

He acknowledged it wouldn't be fair to say he would've done better, especially with teammates playing hard in his absence.

Life without Joe

Some facts about how bad things were without Joe Haden the last four games:

The Browns gave up 10 TD passes in his absence. Last year, they gave up 16 the whole season.

The team gave up three TD passes during three of his four missed games. Last year, they gave up only one 3-TD game.

The Browns were No. 2 in the NFL in pass defense last season with Haden shutting down one side of the field. This year, they’re No. 26.

Three times during Haden’s absence, opposing QBs have posted ratings of 100 or higher. Last year, they held QBs to an 80.6 rating.

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"Buster [Skrine] is out there fighting, fighting, and doing everything he can," he said. "D-Patt [Dimitri Patterson, now out at least a couple of weeks with a sprained ankle] is a vet, Sheldon [Brown] is a vet, so I can't say I would have been making these plays," he said.

During the suspension, Haden worked out at a gym he owns in Washington D.C., and got engaged to his longtime girlfriend.

"The only difference [in me] is that I'm going to be engaged," he said. "You're going to see the same Joe, just having a good time, but I've grown from it because you never really know what little things could impact so many people and I've got to make sure I know that I'm not the only one in my circle. [It's] just being a little bit more smart."

Did he get engaged to settle down?

"No, I just didn't have time to get engaged [before]," he said. "We've been together like three years now, so it was going to happen eventually. I just had a little more time on my hands than I wanted."

When he spoke with team leaders D'Qwell Jackson, Scott Fujita and Sheldon Brown, he said they lecture him about his lifestyle, which includes six luxury cars. Jackson indicated last month that the cars were a bit over the top.

"That's my personal stuff," said Haden. "That's totally different. I'm blessed and am in a position to play the game that I love and make the money that I do. And I did watch that [ESPN documentary] "Broke" [about NFL players who go broke]. I was like 'Man, this is crazy. These dudes are trippin.' Fifty-people entourages? I like nice things of course, but that definitely has nothing to do with [the suspension]."

Haden returns just in time to cover Bengals' premier wideout A.J. Green, who beat the Browns on two big plays last season and caught a TD pass in the first meeting this year with Haden out.

"Perfect timing," said Haden. "At least when I come back, I can try to make a statement going against somebody in the division like him. I feel like once I come back and just do my thing this game, then I'll just be back."

But with the Browns off to their worst start since the expansion season of 1999, it's already too late.

On Twitter: @marykaycabot