NFL reportedly rejects written affidavits submitted by players named in PED report

The NFL demands interviews with James Harrison, Mike Neal, Julius Peppers and Clay Matthews

Even though the players named in Al Jazeera's performance-enhancing drugs report -- the one that named Peyton Manning -- sent the NFL written affidavits, the league still reportedly wants to interview those players. As ESPN's Adam Schefter reported on Friday, the NFL rejected those affidavits and demanded interviews at training camp.

Those players: The Steelers' James Harrison (you can read his affidavit here), and the Packers' Clay Matthews and Julius Peppers.

NFL rejected written affidavits from James Harrison, Clay Matthews, Julius Peppers; demands to interview them at training camp, per source.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 22, 2016

In a longer Facebook post, Schefter included free agent Mike Neal in that group of players. According to Schefter, the NFL will start with Neal, which makes sense given the PED report could be hurting his stock on the open market:

NFL confirmed receipt of written statements by Clay Matthews, Julius Peppers, James Harrison, Mike Neal. NFL rejected the union's view that affidavits constitute reasonable cooperation by the players and confirmed that they are required to participate in in-person interviews. The PED policy reflects the NFL and NFLPA's shared commitment to protect the fairness and integrity of the competition on the field, and league believes it owes it to the players, clubs and fans to fully address any claims of this nature. NFL advised NFLPA that to move forward to resolve the allegations, league would first proceed with the Neal interview after which it would follow with the other player interviews.

That Al Jazeera report, which surfaced in December, also claimed Manning ordered human-growth hormone under his wife's name. Manning bashed the report as "garbage" and Charlie Sly, the source of the report, recanted his account.

Since December, the fight between the NFL and NFLPA over the report has gotten ugly. In June, the NFL blamed the NFLPA for delaying interviews with the players named in the report. When the NFL pushed to interview the players named in the report, Harrison countered by saying the league needed "credible evidence" since Sly recanted the allegations he had previously made.

Harrison even took the fight to Instagram, saying he'd only agree to an interview if NFL commissioner Roger Goodell came to his house before training camp.

This latest report appears to serve as confirmation that Goodell turned down Harrison's invitation.