Cincinnati awaits more information on wide receiver, cuts LB Nicholson

CINCINNATI — Prosecutors say more testing is needed to determine whether Cincinnati wide receiver Chris Henry — who has been suspended by the NFL and is on probation in criminal cases in two states — failed a drug screening.

Henry, 24, is on probation in Kentucky for letting minors drink in a hotel room he rented and in Florida for carrying a concealed weapon.

Henry's agent, Marvin Frazier, insisted his client's drug test was negative, and Bengals officials said they were awaiting more information from authorities in Kenton County, Ky., where the screening took place.

Meanwhile, the Bengals, plagued by a series of off-field problems for more than a year, waived linebacker A.J. Nicholson hours after he appeared in court Monday on a domestic-violence charge.

Nicholson pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor assault.

The Bengals were part of the reason NFL commissioner Roger Goodell introduced a conduct policy last month that stiffens penalties and holds franchises responsible when their players get into trouble.

Failing a drug test could extend Henry's eight-game league suspension.

Frazier, citing information he said he received from the Bengals and Henry, said an initial screening, which he compared with a home-pregnancy test, had been followed up with one that confirmed there were no drugs in Henry's system.

"It's negative," Frazier said. "They jumped the gun on it."

Frazier said the drug screening was part of Henry's two-year probation in Florida, where he pleaded guilty last year to a concealed-weapon charge.

Nicholson was hampered by a hamstring injury last season and appeared in two games.

During Monday's court appearance, Nicholson's girlfriend tried to recant her claim Nicholson hit her. But a judge would not allow it.

Nicholson remains free on $5,000 bond, with a hearing set for May 31.

Nicholson, 23, had previously pleaded no contest to burglary and grand theft in Tallahassee, Fla., and was sentenced to two months in a work program. Nicholson was also placed on two years' probation, which could be jeopardized by his latest arrest.