KNOXVILLE - Marquez North was mostly mum when asked to explain his decision to enter the NFL draft following his junior season at Tennessee.
The wide receiver's focus is clearly on his future.
After putting his injury-plagued career with the Volunteers behind him, North continued to impress ahead of next month's draft by running an unofficial time of 4.42 seconds in the 40-yard dash Wednesday morning at Tennessee's pro day.
"I just felt like it was the right decision for me (after) looking out on everything," North said after wrapping up his day with positional drills.
"It wasn't no specifics," he added. "That's how I felt with myself."
While most of the offseason focus was on the NFL decisions of running back Alvin Kamara, linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin and cornerback Cameron Sutton - all three elected to remain at Tennessee - North chose to leave early.
North, who had six catches in seven games last season, said it was a decision he made when he went home to Charlotte, N.C., in December.
"I'm a critical thinker," he said. "I don't really say a lot. I just think a lot."
The 6-foot-2, 223-pounder must have thought most of his frustrating junior year. In his first two seasons, North caught 68 passes for 816 yards and five touchdowns, with his most memorable moment a one-handed catch to help Tennessee upset South Carolina in 2013. He was a Southeastern Conference All-Freshman team pick that year.
But even in those seasons, he missed games due to ankle, back and foot injuries. Then in 2015, North hurt his knee in preseason camp in August and his back against Florida a month later.
"Last year was mentally draining for me and frustrating," North said. "I'm not into social media, but you still see things. There was a lot of high expectations for me coming into the year, and I got hurt and couldn't perform.
That was draining for me, but like I said, I always have confidence in myself in anything I do."
That confidence prompted North to run the 40 on Wednesday despite the fact that Bob Welton, Tennessee's player personnel director and a former NFL scout, "scolded" him for even considering it.
He was clocked at 4.48 seconds in the 40 at the NFL combine in February.
"I wanted to do a couple things twice just to show that I was healthy and moving well with no injuries at all," North said.
North already had an individual workout with the Dallas Cowboys, whose receivers coach is former Tennessee head coach Derek Dooley.
"It was cool," North said with a laugh. "I was like, 'What's up, man?' It was like right at home. I'd seen him. We were talking about recruiting and stuff about three years ago."
Back then, North was a four-star recruit coming out of high school. Now he's Tennessee best hope for having a player drafted next month.
"I'm hearing some good things," North said, "just about how I've got a lot of intangibles. I was hurt, so that's going to be a factor, too. I'm just happy to show I'm healthy again."
Man of his word
On Tuesday, Brian Randolph guaranteed he would be timed at 4.4 seconds in the 40 and do 30-plus repetitions on the bench press.
The safety backed up his bravado Wednesday with 40 times of 4.47 and 4.40 and 31 bench reps.
Randolph said the knock on him has been his speed, particularly his 40 time.
"I've never run a 4.7 since fifth grade," he quipped. "I don't know how I'm going to do it now. I'm glad I got to prove that wrong. I probably could have backpedaled a 4.7."
Two more players who generated interest for scouts - 27 NFL teams had representatives in Knoxville - were tight end Alex Ellis and defensive tackle Owen Williams, who bench-pressed 225 pounds a whopping 42 times.
Howard returns
Alton "Pig" Howard was dismissed from the team in September. Although the wide receiver - who led the Vols in receiving in 2013 and 2014 - has been training for the draft in Orlando, he also participated in Tennessee's pro day.
Howard declined to divulge why he was kicked off the team, although he said publicly in January it was due to testing positive for marijuana.
"It's behind me, and I moved on from it," he said Wednesday.
Watching Tennessee after his dismissal "ate me up inside," Howard said, but it also motivated him to work harder.
"It was a mistake, something I moved on from," he said. "I'm just focused on the bigger picture. It helped me grow as an individual, and I'm here to start a new future."
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.