Ga. Tech’s Andrew Gardner might skip combine

Andrew Gardner has a pat answer when people ask him how quickly his shoulder is healing.

“Never as fast as I want it to, but it keeps getting better all the time,” said Gardner, an offensive tackle for Georgia Tech the past four seasons. “That’s all I can ask for.”

Gardner, who tore the labrum in his left shoulder last October but still earned first-team all-ACC honors, is racing to heal enough to perform for NFL scouts before April’s draft.

He is one of five Tech seniors, including defensive linemen Michael Johnson, Darryl Richard and Vance Walker and cornerback Jahi Word-Daniels, who have been invited to the NFL scouting combine that begins next week in Indianapolis. Gardner may sit out the running, jumping and lifting drills and wait to perform at Tech’s pro day in March.

“If he had to work out at Indy, if it was a do-or-die thing, he could do it,” said Tony Villani, president of XPE Sports in Roswell, where Gardner is preparing for the draft. “But he’s going to be better off (performing) at Georgia Tech.”

Gardner has been rehabilitating his shoulder since shortly after the surgery to repair the labrum in November. He finished with 48 consecutive starts and two appointments to the all-ACC first team. Gardner will have to trust that body of work will win over scouts more than an eye-popping number of bench press reps or a blazing 40-yard dash time.

“Hopefully I played well enough throughout my career that that’ll be a huge factor in the teams’ decisions, but you don’t know,” Gardner said. “You want to be able to show people what you can do.”

Tony Softli, the St. Louis Rams’ vice president of player personnel, said that how far injured players fall at draft time depends on their injuries. It might be a round, or only a few slots. To that end, the team-administered physical exams that Gardner undergoes at the combine will be important.

Softli wouldn’t predict where Gardner will go in the draft, but did say he saw him as a right tackle, as “more of a power guy than an athletic guy.” The website nfldraftscout.com projects Gardner as a sixth-round pick.

Gardner works three times a week with physical therapist Charlie Ridgeway, Tech’s director of rehabilitation. Ridgeway said that Gardner has regained about 90 percent of his range of motion in his shoulder, but still needs to regain strength in the joint. Gardner also sees another therapist, does stretching exercises on his own and has been training at XPE Sports.

Ridgeway said Gardner is making progress, but is cautious to give a date when Gardner will be ready for activities such as the bench press. Gardner said he is fairly certain he’ll be able to participate in Tech’s pro day, when scouts come to campus to evaluate draft-eligible players.

“We’ll see how all that plays out,” Gardner said. “The good thing is now my shoulder’s fixed, so it’s a matter of rehabbing and getting it to full strength. … It’s fixed and hopefully teams will see that.”