Limited by a rib injury at last month's NFL combine, former Tennessee Tech wide receiver Tim Benford ran and jumped for scouts during the Golden Eagles' pro day Wednesday in Cookeville.
At the combine, Benford participated in only the 40-yard dash and some catching drills during the receivers' day on the turf at Lucas Oil Stadium. He ran the 40 in 4.59 seconds and performed well in the drills, but scouts didn't get to see him doing the other running events or the vertical and broad jumps.
Wednesday, with the ribs feeling better, the former Red Bank High School star was clocked in the 40 in 4.48 seconds. Posting a number below 4.5 seconds was significant, he said in a phone interview Thursday.
"It's really good for me, coming from a small school," he said, adding that 40 times are very unpredictable because of the imprecise way they are timed -- with guys holding stopwatches. "You don't ever know what they're going to put you down for."
Benford said he covered 10 feet, 1 inch in the broad jump, had a 34-inch vertical and ran well in the other events.
"It was all good and I'm glad to have it behind me so that now I can focus on football again," he said.
Benford, the Ohio Valley Conference offensive player of the year, had 65 receptions for 923 yards in 2011. He will participate in the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga's pro day on April 2, so he can catch passes from former Mocs quarterback B.J. Coleman.