NFL COMBINE
Carpenter out to return when good and ready
Monday, February 27, 2006
Bill Rabinowitz
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
</IMG> Bobby Carpenter
INDIANAPOLIS — Bobby Carpenter is learning patience. But it sure isn’t easy. After fracturing his right ankle on the first defensive play of the Michigan game Nov. 19, the Ohio State linebacker wanted to return for the Jan. 2 Fiesta Bowl.
It wasn’t to be. He had to root from the sideline as his teammates beat Notre Dame.
Even now, more than three months after the injury, Carpenter is not all the way back.
Carpenter has decided not to participate in workouts at the NFL combine. He wants to give his ankle more time to heal before working out for scouts during Ohio State’s pro day March 9.
"It’s been tough," he said yesterday. "I see all these guys working out here, and they’re running these times. I would like to be out there. I’d like to be able to run and run well on a big stage like this.
"But I told myself I wasn’t going to get drawn into that. I probably need another week and a half or two weeks. I had to kind of tell myself that before I got here, because I’m a competitor. I want to go out there and run after (fellow Buckeyes linebackers) A.J. (Hawk) and Anthony (Schlegel) and try to beat their times. So it’s been a little tough, but I think in the end it’ll all pay off."
Carpenter said he’s confident he’ll be able to do everything required at pro day, though he expects to be sore the next day.
"It feels pretty good," he said. "I could play in a game if I had to. It’s not quite 100 percent, but it’s good enough if I had to play, I really could, I feel."
Carpenter’s ankle has been a topic of conversation in interviews with NFL teams, but he doesn’t believe it will be a concern for long. He expects to be completely healed by early April.
"I’m not quite as explosive as I was before the injury," Carpenter said.
"That’s something that comes with time and building muscular power. I was out for a month and a half, and I’ve been working out for a month and a half, so it’s been a tough road. But I think that’s something that’s just going to come with time and reps."
Carpenter is projected as a late firstround pick in the April 29 draft.
"I don’t necessarily think it affects (his status)," Cleveland Browns general manager Phil Savage said of questions about Carpenter’s ankle. "I think it just leaves the sentence open-ended, to a degree."
Carpenter has rare versatility for a linebacker. He became a dangerous pass rusher this season and has the size and instincts to succeed in a traditional linebacker role. His pass-rush skills, however, could be what set him apart.
"Seeing a lot of teams go to the 3-4, I think it helps me," Carpenter said.
"It’s another linebacker that they’re going to need. And, I guess, looking around, it’s tough to find a whole lot of guys who have the size and weight to play outside linebacker in the 3-4. You have to be a bigger, physical guy with good speed. That’s something that’s kind of a commodity in today’s game. I think that’s something I can bring to the table."
After three months away from the game, the 6-foot-3, 255-pounder can’t wait to feast again.
"You always overestimate your body’s ability to heal," Carpenter said, "so it’s been kind of a rough experience, adversity every day trying to get better."
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