Kwon Alexander has a week to appeal four-game suspension

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have finally received official notice of Kwon Alexander's impending four-game suspension for violating the league's policy on performance enhancing drugs, the Tampa Bay Times among others reports. Alexander claims this violation was a result of taking an energy drink he'd been taking since high school, but that won't help him: players are responsible for what goes into their body under the NFL's policy, regardless of how it got there.

Alexander still has five business days to file an appeal, meaning he should be available for Sunday's game against the Colts. Appeals can take several weeks, meaning Alexander could be available for most of the team's remaining six games -- a crucial period, as the Bucs can afford only one or two losses if they want to make it into the playoffs. At 5-5, the Bucs are just one game out of a playoff spot.

Alexander will now how have to choose whether he wants to appeal his suspension and play the next couple of weeks, potentially missing the playoffs if the Bucs ever get there, or try to postpone and potentially even overturn it.