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Draft hopeful Shane Ray cited on marijuana charge in Missouri

Published Apr. 27, 2015 8:19 p.m. ET

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UPDATE (Tuesday, 1 a.m. ET): Shane Ray released a statement through his agent, EAG Sports Management, via their Twitter feed:

"I’d like to apologize to my Mother, Fans and prospective NFL teams for my poor judgement Monday morning . I am embarrassed and realize there are consequences for my actions. I was not under the influence nor impaired , therefore I was not detained. Fortunately, Mondays incident only resulted in a citation. I will make better choices in the future. It is imperative that I continue to strive to better myself. My future NFL career has been something I have always dreamed about and is very important to me. I commit that my actions will represent that. There are no excuses here and I will take the necessary steps to ensure this will not happen again. I will not jeopardize my ability to have a positive impact on and off the field moving forward."

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ORIGINAL STORY

Former Missouri pass rusher Shane Ray was cited on a charge of possession of marijuana on Monday morning in Cooper County.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol posted the arrest report on its website.

Ray, 21, is scheduled to attend Thursday night's NFL Draft in Chicago. Ray was pulled over at 6:07 a.m. and charged with having 35 grams or less of marijuana and failing to drive in the right lane of the highway with two or more lanes.

The 6-foot-3, 245-pound defensive end, who was once viewed as a top-10 pick, could experience a draft-day fall.

Ray also is experiencing the effects of a foot injury he sustained in his team's bowl game. Though, Ray needs to rest the injury, he's not expected to need surgery, NFL.com reported last week.

Ray was named the SEC Defensive Player of the Year this past season after making 14.5 sacks and 22.5 tackles for loss. 

Before the news broke, Ray was rated the No. 15 overall pick on FOX Sports 1’s NFL Draft analyst Joel Klatt’s big board.

“Hasn't played a ton of football as he had to sit behind Kony Ealy and Michael Sam at Missouri, but he is the type of player with an extremely high ceiling,” Klatt writes. “He was dealing with a foot injury at the Combine so he was unable to compete in drills, which was disappointing due to the hype of his athleticism. He won't need surgery, so that's a good sign.

"Like [Vic] Beasley, he must get better in run defense or the teams that run a 4-3 system will likely pass on him. His Pro Day didn't go as well as some thought it might, but he's still a guy with great momentum coming off of a sensational season that ended with him being named SEC Defensive Player of the Year.”

Ray reportedly visited with the Falcons, Ravens, Bears, Jaguars, Jets, Eagles, Steelers, Rams and Titans during the pre-draft process.

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