During a press conference at Reliant Stadium, Houston Texans linebacker Brian Cushing denied that he injected or ingested hCG, which occurs naturally in pregnant females and is on the list of banned substances as it's been used by steroid users after a cycle.

"I tested positive for such a small amount it can't be performance-enhancing," Cushing said. "I've got to get medical help to find out what it happened and to keep it from happening again. I'm going going to change my workout regime or anything I do because I know I haven't done anything wrong."

Cushing told the assembled media that he feared that the elevated level of hCG indicated that the rookie had tumors and might die.

"I was tested in September, and I found out in October I had tested positive," he said. "I played the rest of the season thinking I had tumors."