Report: Aldon Smith not actually nearing NFL return

Aldon Smith attends practice at the Oakland Raiders Practice Facility in Alameda on Sept. 11, 2015.Aldon Smith might not be as close to an NFL comeback as he indicated earlier this month.

If the sources of Bleacher Report’s Jason Cole are to be believe, Smith is far from a return to the league.

“Sources close to Aldon Smith said the former Raiders and 49ers linebacker is nowhere close to reinstatement to the NFL,” Cole reported, “despite claims by Smith that he would return soon.”

The claims mentioned by Cole, a longtime NFL reporter for Yahoo, were in the form of an Instagram Live video in which Smith allegedly said his return to action was imminent.

However, Smith reportedly has strayed from…