NFL teams still do not have the information as to whether any players failed drug tests at the league's scouting combine in February -- and won't have that for at least another week or so.
Three league sources confirmed that the teams will not get that information until 10 days or so before the April 25 NFL draft, which makes the reports of failed drug tests mystifying to some league personnel.
• Agents deny report | Rang: Easy solution | Ratto: Slime factor"If it's true, we don't know," said one team official. "We won't get that until closer to the draft. I don't know how that's getting out."
Two other sources confirmed the information has not been disseminated to the teams yet. NFLDraftbible.com reported that six prominent players had tested positive for either performance-enhancing drugs or recreational drugs at the combine. One of those players, Boston College defensive tackle B.J. Raji, was also named in a separate report on SI.com as failing a drug test.
The NFLDRaftbible.com report cited "a team" as a source, which is interesting because the teams have not yet been given the information.
Raji has since denied the report and the agents for several of the players have publicly challenged the reports.
To help clear things up, the NFL office sent out a statement last week. It stated that none of the 32 teams or the league office knew the results of tests administered at the combine.
"Unfortunately, rumors about draft eligible players, including rumors about test results, begin to circulate every year at this time," the NFL's statement read.
The test results are made available to the teams every year. Players who do test positive are notified at an earlier time, so the players who did fail would know by now -- and so likely would their agents.
But why would a kid or an agent let that information out if it were going to hurt the player's draft status?
"We'll know at some point," the team official said. "Until then, it's speculation. It's not coming from us."
