Donte Whitner has called for the Cleveland Browns to rally around troubled wide receiver Josh Gordon.

The 23-year-old is facing a lengthy suspension from the NFL after failing a drugs test, and was arrested for a driving while intoxicated offence last week.

The safety, who joined the AFC North side earlier this year, told NFL Radio: "It's a big blow to us. I would be lying if I said it wasn't. The thing is, we have to rally around him. I know all the dumb things people say 'he should be cut, he should be this', he shouldn't.

"He's a 23-year-old kid, he made some mistakes. A lot of people's 20-year-old sons make mistakes. We have to help him, and that's the bottom line. We have to help him collectively. It's not going be one person that helps him, it's not going to be two people that help him.

"It's gonna come from the front office, the coaching staff, the players and his whole family. We have to help him, not only for football purposes, but for life purposes to get his life in order."

Gordon led the league in receiving yards last season, despite missing the first two games of the campaign through another suspension.