ALAMEDA, Calif. -- Oakland Raiders defensive tackle Darrell Russell told police that a woman he videotaped allegedly being raped by two of his friends had consented to the sex, though she could have been drugged.

The tape-recorded conversation between Russell and police was played in court Wednesday, the third day of a hearing in Alameda County Court to determine whether the case goes to trial.

In the Feb. 1 interview, Russell, 26, was watching the videotape while a police officer repeatedly suggested the 28-year-old woman appears drugged. Russell replied he could see Dwyer's point.

Later, Russell said he couldn't envision how someone might have had a chance to spike the woman's drink at a San Francisco club where the two had partied before returning to the house where the alleged attack occurred around 4 a.m. Jan. 31.

Prosecutors allege Russell, a former No. 2 overall selection in the NFL draft, laced the drink with the "date-rape drug'' GHB. He has pleaded innocent to 25 felony counts as an accomplice in the alleged attack.

"It's highly possible somebody put something in her drink,'' Russell told Dwyer. "She looks like she's on something, but not alcohol.''

Prosecutors say the video shows the woman high on GHB and unable to give consent. The woman has testified that she remembers very little of the sex.

Russell also insisted, however, that the woman had agreed several times to group sex -- once in the car ride back to Alameda from Harry Denton's Starlight Room and again before Russell produced his two friends.

He said he suggested the tryst because he knew the woman had, in the past, had sex with Russell and then another man in the same night -- namely, Raiders safety Eric Johnson, in whose house the alleged rape occurred. Johnson has not been charged.

"Do you think that she could have really given consent?'' Dwyer probed.

"I think, yeah, because she's done it before. And that's the only reason,'' Russell responded.

Still, Dwyer pressed Russell, insisting the woman was too incapacitated.

"She couldn't give consent to squat,'' Dwyer said.

"She gave consent to me,'' Russell responded.

Russell's lawyers said outside court that prosecutors were trying to distort his words and characterized him as cooperative and forthright during the interview -- because, they said, he has nothing to hide.

Russell, 26, is a two-time Pro Bowl selection who is serving a one-year NFL suspension for violating the league's substance abuse policy.

Under California law, he could be found guilty of crimes committed by either of his two friends -- Na'eem Perry, 25, and Ali Hayes, 27 -- because he did not intervene. Hayes and Perry also have pleaded innocent.

The 21-minute videotape of the alleged attack was not shown Wednesday, but was expected to be shown when the hearing resumes Friday. Those who have seen it say the woman appears to participate in the sex and also seem stupefied -- at one point looking at the camera in bewilderment.

Also Wednesday, a friend of the alleged victim testified that she felt "weird'' after tasting the drink Russell allegedly spiked.

Mao Ke, the woman's friend, said she drank from the same pinkish, fruity drink that prosecutors believe Russell mixed.

After taking a sip, Ke said, "I felt tired and I felt a little bit weird.''

As the club cleared, Russell politely asked Ke to retrieve the drink for him, she testified.

Outside court, Russell's lawyer, Cristina C. Arguedas, called that testimony "meaningless,'' saying a mouthful of a GHB-spiked drink would have no effect on a person.

GHB, or gamma hydroxybutyric acid, is known as a date-rape drug for its ability to incapacitate people and leave them vulnerable to sexual assault. It clears the body quickly and often cannot be detected on toxicology tests. Indeed, Arguedas said, there's no scientific proof the woman was drugged -- and Russell passed a polygraph test, which Judge Jeffrey Allen may decide cannot be submitted as evidence.

Arguedas has tried to cast the woman as a liar and a "groupie'' out for cash. The woman has testified that she was "seeing'' two other men besides Russell at the time, including Seattle Mariners pitcher Freddy Garcia, and plans to file a civil suit.