Report: Jabrill Peppers failed combine drug test due to diluted sample

Former Michigan standout Jabrill Peppers failed a drug test at the NFL Scouting Combine earlier this offseason due to a diluted sample, ESPN's Adam Schefter reports, citing league sources.

A spokesperson for CAA, the agency that represents Peppers, released a statement offering up an explanation for the circumstances shortly after news of the test result surfaced.

Via Schefter:

Peppers went to the combine. He was sick after flying there from San Diego. He has a history of cramping. Peppers was being pumped with fluids, drinking 8-10 bottles of water before he went to bed, because he was the first guy to work out two days for the LBs and DBs. He had to go through that first day, come back on second day, and that was the fear. So Peppers was pounding water and under the weather. He never failed a drug test in his life, nor tested positive before for any substance.

Along with former Alabama linebacker Reuben Foster, Peppers is the second marquee prospect known to have failed a combine drug test because of a diluted sample.

Foster also suggested his situation can be attributed to the hydrating that followed an illness leading up to the big week in Indianapolis.

A versatile defensive talent capable of lining up and contributing all over the field, Peppers has been widely projected as a possible first-round pick

It's unclear whether the test result, and the fact that he's now automatically placed in the NFL's drug program, will have a significant impact on his draft stock later this week.