Agent says Henry's drug test was negative

[Raji]

ESPN.com news services

Updated: May 21, 2007, 4:23 PM ET

The agent for suspended Bengals receiver Chris Henry denied a report that his client failed a court-ordered drug test.



Henry

"The final result is negative," Marvin Frazier told the Cincinnati Enquirer. "It's all [nonsense]." Frazier also told ESPN.com's John Clayton that the test was negative.

Kenton County (Kentucky) Attorney Garry Edmondson said Monday that Henry tested positive for opiates and he will be forced to serve 88 days in jail. However, Edmondson's office later backed off that statement and said it was awaiting the results of a second test.

Frazier told ESPN.com the second test, whose results came back either late Friday or early Monday, turned out to be negative. Henry's attorney said the first test, which was not administered by the NFL but was court-mandated, was comparable to a home pregnancy test.

The Bengals said Monday that they were awaiting more information on Henry from authorities in Kenton County, Ky.

A spokeswoman for the Kenton County attorney's office said there would be more testing in the Henry case.

"We know that there are inconsistent reports about the routine drug screenings," said spokeswoman Melissa Pryor-Reed. "As a result of these inconsistencies, further tests are currently pending."

After reports circulated early Monday that Henry had failed a drug test, the chief prosecutor for Kenton County said authorities were waiting for final analysis from the Kentucky state lab.

"We have to wait for confirmation from the state lab. We have suspicion on a field test," Ken Easterling told The Cincinnati Enquirer. "We cannot confirm or deny [Henry's test sample] contains a controlled substance."

Failing a drug test could result in Henry's current NFL suspension of eight games being extended to at least a full season. He could also face more jail time in Kenton County.


The Bengals issued a statement Monday, saying: "For Chris Henry to return playing NFL football, the Bengals understand that he must comply with certain legal and NFL-related procedures. To date, to the Club's knowledge, Chris has been complying with those procedures, and the Club is not aware at this point of any circumstance in which Chris has not complied with his obligations.


"With respect to the Northern Kentucky proceedings, reports to date may not be based on complete information. More information is expected to be made available shortly, once all the procedural tests are complete, and the Club will await any action until that information has been released."


Henry is permitted to work out at the Bengals' facilities in the offseason and participate in training camp, including preseason games. He won't be allowed to practice with the team when the regular season begins. He will be reinstated after the eighth game if he stays out of trouble.

"I must emphasize to you that this is your last opportunity to salvage your NFL career," NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell wrote Henry when he suspended him. "I urge you to take full advantage of the resources available to support you in that effort."

Raji