USF’s Mitch Wilcox went through NFL combine with eye injury

The modest numbers Mitch Wilcox posted Thursday at the NFL scouting combine possess a little more context today.

The former USF all-conference tight end participated in the workout with a popped blood vessel in his left eye.

NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, citing an anonymous source, first reported the injury late Friday afternoon, but Wilcox confirmed it to the Tampa Bay Times on Friday evening.

It occurred during a “gauntlet drill,” when receiver prospects run vertically as passes sequentially are tossed at them from both directions. Confused when he saw a ball boy without a ball on one side, Wilcox quickly looked to the other side before looking back and taking a hard spiral to the face.

“Had little to no vision intermittently in my left eye,” Wilcox said Friday evening in a text message. “Depth perception and balance was apparently affected. Competitor in me wanted to try and finish.”

Finish he did, albeit with lackluster results.

Wilcox’s 40-yard dash time (4.88 seconds) was 15th among the 17 tight ends who participated, and his vertical jump (31 inches) was 14th out of 15. He ranked ninth out of 13 in the 20-yard shuttle (4.43 seconds).

He has a chance to redeem himself publicly at USF’s pro day on March 30, and could work out privately for a number of teams before then.