Panthers' Alexander suspended 1 year for substance abuse violation

Carolina Panthers defensive end Frank Alexander has been suspended for a minimum of one year for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy, a league spokesperson announced Tuesday.

Alexander, who's on injured reserve with a torn Achilles, will begin serving the suspension immediately.

This is the third substance abuse violation for Alexander, after he was suspended for the first four games of last season, and then another 10 games.

Alexander said in May he was using marijuana as a way to manage pain and relax, and vowed to stop.

"I didn't do it before I went to work. I didn't do it at work. It was simply like after I got out of practice, I wanted to kind of relax and chill. It kind of healed my body up," he said. "It wasn't like a thing I was doing all the time. I didn't need it to get up and go."