It's more than that though. Addiction is in the head also. It doesn't happen overnight. There's a lot of therapy involved to get someone to turn away when the opportunity presents itself. He's still young and should take the long road to ensure that if he is in fact reinstated, he doesn't do the one step forward, two steps back dance.
I get that it doesn't happen overnight. I don't expect it to happen overnight. I smoked for 20+ years and know how hard it is to quit something. He was notified November 2016 that he was going to be banned from the league. He went through the appeals process and lost. He returned for the last 2 games of the 2016 season knowing he was going to be banned in January 2017. He knew he would be eligible to apply for reinstatement on 11/6/17. That would give him almost a full year to "be on course to file for reinstatement". That's not overnight.
During that year, it was reported by TMZ he failed another test. This was not denied by Gregory's people or the Cowboys. Jerry said he was "skeptical" of the report.
In October when he was nearing the time he could file for reinstatement, it came out that he wouldn't file. He had the desire to come back. There was a source that said he had a setback which would require counseling or another stint in rehab.
Now, for months they have been claiming Gregory wants to come back and is working to come back and working towards the path of being able to file for reinstatement. If I am to believe he has been clean for 17+ months (since the failed test that got him banished to begin with) then that path should have already been taken.
It would concern me MORE if he has been clean this entire time yet still wasn't prepared to file 5.5 months after he could have. It would concern me to the point that instead of wanting him to come back, I would change my mind and want the team to cut ties with him.
He has already wasted the opportunity to participate in the off season program and in another 2 months will put training camp in jeopardy. That's not good for a player that has missed the better part of 2 years, save for a couple of games.
I'm looking at this from a most likely scenario based upon all the articles and limited information and trying to read between the lines that I can because I have followed this situation closely since I've wanted him to return...he most likely didn't take the banishment seriously last year, had a change of heart late last year, has a sincere desire to come back now, and is putting together a string of clean tests and therapy to show Goodell he is clean and deserves to be reinstated. That's most likely causing the delay and that is most likely the path towards reinstatement they are referencing.
