It was reported last month that Rams cornerback Fakhir Brown avoided a one-year suspension under the league’s substance abuse policy.  Brown declined comment at the time.

But he’s talking now.  At a minicamp that opened on Friday, Brown told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that the suspension almost was imposed as a result of a diluted urine sample, which counts as a positive.

“That’s what it was — a ‘dilute,’” Brown said.  “If we’re getting tested right before practice, I’m quite sure it’s going to be a dilute, because that’s all I do is drink water and Gatorade before practice.  [But] I had to take the test right then.”

Brown still thinks that some type of penalty might be imposed.  It’s unclear what that would be, since the policy seems to contemplate a one-year suspension for any violation occurring within two years after a four-game suspension.  Brown was suspended for the first four games of the 2007 campaign.

It’s the second one-year suspension that has been overturned by the league in less than a year; in 2007, Broncos running back Travis Henry managed to avoid a one-year hiatus, even after he surely angered the league by filing a lawsuit aimed at blocking the suspension.