DAVONE-BESS-CHIEFS.JPG

Browns receiver Davone Bess, shown on the sideline during this season's game in Kansas City, has missed practice this week because of personal reasons.

(John Kuntz, The Plain Dealer)

BEREA, Ohio - Browns receiver Davone Bess has missed practice each of the past two days for personal reasons, and now a photo posted on his Instagram account Friday morning is causing a stir.

The photo was deleted shortly after it was posted, as was Bess' Instagram account.

A source told cleveland.com that Bess has been dealing all season long with a serious issue involving one of his family members back home in Oakland, Calif., and that the situation has taken a tremendous toll on Bess this season.

The photo shows Bess sitting outside on a deck lighting something that looks like a cigarette or cigarillo. A photo of late reggae legend Bob Marley sits next to him, and a flag with the colors of the Rastafari movement lies around his neck. The Rastafari Movement is a spiritual ideology with roots in 1930s Jamaica.

No other information about the photo is available.

Bess is listed as questionable for Sunday's game against the Jets. Coach Rob Chudzinski said he would know more about Bess' situation Saturday. The source told cleveland.com that Bess is still in Cleveland.

If Bess doesn't make the trip to New York to play the Jets, Josh Cooper will replace him, Chudzinski said.

"Yeah, Cooper, and we have some flexibility with (WR) Greg Little as well,'' said Chudzinski.



The Browns said they have no further details on the photo or Bess' situation. Bess, who spent time in a juvenile detention facility but now devotes a lot of his free time to helping kids, grew up in a rough section of Oakland and still has family members dealing with the dangerous streets he roamed as a kid.



Bess leads the league with 14 drops, and has been limited to 28 or fewer yards in 11 of 14 games.

Bess, 28, was traded to the Browns from Miami along with the Dolphins' fourth-round pick and seventh-round pick in exchange for a Browns' fourth and sixth in the 2013 draft.

Bess received a contract extension through 2016 worth $11.5 million, including $5.75 million guaranteed.