NFLPA exec: NFL hasn't proved it has cause for Al Jazeera PEDs investigation

The NFL reportedly intends to interview the players linked to performance-enhancing drugs in an Al Jazeera America report, but the players' union may not agree there's enough evidence to warrant an investigation.

Green Bay Packers linebackers Clay Matthews and Julius Peppers, Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison, and recently retired quarterback Peyton Manning were all named in the original report, which was based off accusations made by Charles Sly, an Indiana pharmacist who later recanted his claims.

"It's not exactly grounds for confidence that (the NFL is) approaching this investigation with anything other than smoke," NFLPA assistant executive director of external affairs George Atallah told NBC Sports Radio's "PFT Live" on Tuesday. "They have not provided anything beyond the report to substantiate doing a full-blown investigation. The dance goes on."

Atallah said the NFLPA wants to establish a clear line for what can trigger an NFL investigation into alleged PED use, suggesting a few lines of dialog in a video that were later recanted isn't enough.

"If we were in a world where the league wanted to investigate every time somebody tweeted something about a player, they would have to hire a lot of staff in order to do that."