Aaron Murray pleased with his Pro Day showing

photo Former Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray works out for NFL football scouts during the school's pro day Wednesday in Athens, Ga.

Three weeks after tearing his ACL is his Sanford Stadium finale against Kentucky, former Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray announced a goal last December of making it back for Pro Day.

Murray attained that objective Wednesday by working out in front of representatives from 23 of the National Football League's 32 teams.

"I thought it was a great day," Murray told reporters afterward. "We had a lot of fun. Everyone has been waiting for this day, and we had to push it back because of my injury. I'm thankful for the cooperation of my teammates and coaches for pushing it back a little bit.

"I feel no limitations with the knee, and I think everybody saw that when I was doing the cutting and the throwing. We made a lot of throws on the run."

Murray completed 48 of 54 scripted passes, with three of his incompletions occurring as a result of dropped passes. The 6-foot, 204-pounder was among 15 former Bulldogs who performed.

Before his injury against the Wildcats, Murray had become the Southeastern Conference's all-time leader in passing yards (13,166), total yards (13,562), completions (921) and touchdown passes (121). He is the only quarterback in SEC history to throw for 3,000 yards all four seasons.

Former Oakland and Tampa Bay coach Jon Gruden, who is now an ESPN analyst, recently called Murray the "steal of the draft." Murray has been projected as high as a third-round pick, though ESPN's Mel Kiper did not have him in his three-round mock draft he produced earlier this month.

"He's at the top of the food chain," Gruden said. "There is a lot to like about him."

Murray was asked Wednesday if he was tired and said the workout before NFL scouts actually was "light" compared to his daily quest to just have the opportunity to perform.

"Today showed these teams that they don't have to worry about the knee and that they don't have to worry about someone who's not going to participate in the OTAs," he said. "I think this will help come draft time. Everybody said, 'You've got 52 games under your belt,' but there was still a lot of uncertainty as to whether I would be able to come back.

"I worked my tail off every single day."

Former defensive backs Blake Sailors (4.45 seconds) and Branden Smith (4.58), whose final season with the Bulldogs was in 2012, posted the fastest 40 times. Former guards Dallas Lee (29) and Chris Burnette (24) led the way on the bench-press reps.

Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.

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