Projecting future performance for a PED-suspended athlete?

I'm always surprised when a sportswriter talks about the return of an athlete from a PED suspension as if he is returning from a broken bone that healed. There never seems to be any concern that there will be a drop off in the athlete's level of play now that he will be tested more regularly/stringently for PED's (I don't know the official policy, but I assume that once a guy is caught, he is subject to increased random testing).

Why is that? Are they pretending that it wasn't the steroids that made him the athlete he was? Are they assuming he'll go right back to steroids and (hopefully) not get caught this time around? I know that there is cycling involved, so it's possible that the drop off in play won't necessarily happen immediately, but it should eventually.

It just surprises me that I can't recall a sportswriter every saying something like "it remains to be seen what kind of player he is following the suspension" when it's always the first thing on my mind (what can they now expect from that player if he's no longer able to utilize the drugs that made him the athlete he was at the time of the suspension?).

p.s.--It's possible there have been several examples of sportswriters questioning what to expect and I just missed them. If that's the case, never mind.