Arkansas guard Mitch Petrus made headlines at the NFL Scouting Combine on Friday, when he tied a combine record by bench pressing 225 pounds 45 times.
Petrus was back in the news Saturday, too. But not in a good way.
Petrus reportedly pulled a hamstring during his run in the 40-yard dash during Saturday’s workout. He timed a 5.32 in the 40, but couldn’t do anything else the rest of the day. It’s a tough break for Petrus, who is trying to move up the NFL Draft board and may have made an impression with a strong workout Saturday. NFL personnel found out something we all knew — Petrus is really strong — but he’ll have to wait for another chance to show what he can do on the field.
Here are a couple takes on Petrus from the NFL Combine:
• Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post says Petrus’ flexibility may be in question after the injury.
• Here’s another brief that says Petrus still made a solid impression in Indianapolis.
• And here’s what Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk had to say about Petrus and his injury.
I did talk to Petrus’ agent, Dave Butz, late last week after Petrus had arrived in Indianapolis. Butz said Petrus did a great job preparing for the NFL Combine and believed he would make another impression on NFL personnel during his time in Indianapolis.
“I think he’s going to make a huge impression just because he’s going to test well for one,” Butz said last Friday. “They’ll be able to compare quantitatively how he is relative to the other people at his position in this draft. He’ll stack up just as well if not better than anybody in pretty much all those categories. Plus, it’s a good opportunity for him to speak with decision makers and teams. …
“He’s the type of guy that offensive line coaches will fall in love with.”
Certainly, the injury kept Petrus from completing all the testing and drill work at the combine. But it likely wasn’t a complete loss for him.
Petrus’ teammate, Malcolm Sheppard, is in Indianapolis now and is going through testing and interviews. He is scheduled to workout tomorrow. I’ll let you know if there’s any news regarding Sheppard from the combine in the next couple of days.
