Saunders works out

COLUMBIA, S.C. --

When tight end Weslye Saunders began walking gingerly after slipping in a pass route Wednesday, he had to wonder whether recent history - all of it bad - was about to repeat itself.

But Saunders was able to finish his workout at South Carolina's pro timing day, the first step in a rehabilitation process that has as much to do with improving his image as it does fixing the broken bone in his right foot.

Saunders, who pulled out of the NFL combine when the injury flared up, put off surgery until Friday so he could show scouts his physical skills had not eroded while he sat out last fall after the NCAA declared him ineligible.

Saunders said he would need four to six weeks to recover after a team physician inserts a screw in the bone. He put no timetable on his image makeover.

"I wanted to prove that I have good character. That I'm not a character," Saunders said. "That's the point I'm trying to get across. I don't think my athletic ability was ever in doubt."

The 6-foot-5, 270-pound athlete, who graduated from Riverside High in Durham and is the son of News & Observer columnist Barry Saunders, was ranked among the nation's top tight end prospects entering his senior season at South Carolina. But he was sidelined after accepting impermissible gifts from an agent and then lying about his involvement to NCAA investigators.

While the Gamecocks played a season that included the school's first appearance in the SEC championship game, Saunders attended classes and filed several unsuccessful appeals.

"Everything I did was my own fault," he said. "I don't have any bitterness at all because I was able to take classes here and be a part of what was going on."

Things continued to unravel for Saunders after the season. First, he failed to file the proper paperwork and initially was ruled ineligible for the draft.

While that issue was resolved, Saunders was injured during training for the combine in Dallas. He arrived at the combine intending to participate but tweaked his foot warming up to run the 40-yard dash.

"It was just a lot to handle at one time," he said.

While Saunders looked to be a step slow Wednesday because of his injury, he showed off the soft hands that helped him catch 32 passes for 353 yards and three touchdowns in 2009.

"I think I gained a few Brownie points coming out here on a broken foot and doing everything I could," Saunders said.

Saunders' role in the North Carolina agent scandal brought the NCAA to Columbia and triggered an ongoing investigation. He had a pleasant chat with Gamecocks coach Steve Spurrier on Wednesday and said he hopes fans will not remember him "as a guy who tried to bring the program down."

In the four weeks leading to the draft, Saunders will try to convince scouts of the same.

"There's nothing I can say at this point. It's all about action - how I carry myself from this point on, how I handle situations on and off the field," Saunders said. "And being seen, not heard."