The Buffalo Bills will most likely be without two of their newest defensive linemen during the first quarter of the season.
Defensive end Michael Hoecht and defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi, who both signed with the team this week, are expected to be issued six-game suspensions for violating the NFL’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs, general manager Brandon Beane said Friday.
Hoecht said he informed the Bills of his pending suspension before contract negotiations began. Beane said the team found out about Ogunjobi’s suspension after he and the team agreed to terms. Ogunjobi informed Beane in person in Buffalo, which led to some tweaking of the contract they agreed to.
Hoecht met with the media Friday and said the suspension happened because “I trusted somebody I shouldn’t have trusted.”
The former Los Angeles Rams said a trainer he worked with recommended some supplements for him. Initially, he had those verified by an independent nurse, but as his relationship with the trainer continued, he became less vigilant.
“I would like to be a voice of caution to anyone within the NFL to learn from my mistake,” Hoecht said. “As much as you think you can trust people … you think they have your best interest at heart, the responsibility is always on you.”
Hoecht called the suspension one of the lowest moments of his life and said he feels like he has ground to make up to everyone around him.
“It was careless,” he said. “It’s fully my responsibility. And, you know, it’s something I’m going to have to own. Something I’m going to come out better on the better side of, and use it as motivation. As fuel.”
Hoecht and Ogunjobi were brought in to boost the Bills’ defensive line.
Hoecht has spent the past five seasons with the Rams after signing with the team as an undrafted free agent out of Brown in 2020. After not playing his first year with the team, Hoecht appeared in every Rams regular-season game since and has logged 13.5 sacks and two forced fumbles.
Ogunjobi, 30, a former third-round pick of the Cleveland Browns, spent the past three seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers after a career year with the Cincinnati Bengals in 2021.
In three years with the Steelers, Ogunjobi logged six sacks and 15 tackles for a loss.
He said he thinks he took “a tainted supplement,” and he found out about the suspension nearly at the same time he agreed to join the Bills.
“I take full accountability. It was a mistake, it was an accident. And, you know, I accept my punishment,” Ogunjobi said Friday. “I think the best thing was to just be honest, and (I) kind of find out about it while we were finishing the deal. The timing was kind of crazy with it, but the organization handled it masterfully. They welcomed (me) with open arms.”
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(Photo of Michael Hoecht: Jayne Kamin-Oncea / USA Today)
