Henry Josey's reconstructed knee held up well enough last year to hang 1,166 yards and 16 touchdowns against an SEC schedule. That's about as much on-field validation as a rehabbed running back could hope for. But Josey, a former Missouri star, still couldn't be sure if it would hold up as well against an even tougher test: the NFL Scouting Combine physical exam.
Brandt: Combine standouts
"Here we go," Josey thought when his name was called so that doctors working the combine could have a look, according to sportingnews.com. Turns out, they were amazed at the shape Josey's knee was in despite a 2011 injury against Texas that was worse, and required a longer recovery, than a typical ACL tear.
"The doctors were so excited about how stable my knee was and how it looked," he said. "They were asking me who my doctor was and who trained me. I knew that God wouldn't bring me this far to leave me. They all wanted to know, 'How did you do that?'"
With doctors' praise acting as wind on his back, Josey blistered the combine 40-yard dash with a 4.43 clocking, third-fastest among all running backs. His 4.13 20-yard shuttle time ranked fifth at the position, helping to validate his quickness as well. Undersized at 5-8, 194 pounds, Josey will be a draft-day underdog who will surely hear names such as Carlos Hyde, Jeremy Hill and Andre Williams called ahead of his among running backs.
But at least he'll know a medical report probably isn't the reason.
Follow Chase Goodbread on Twitter @ChaseGoodbread.
