Herzlich reached that goal in September, when he took the field again with his Boston College teammates. The next step requires going through the scrutiny of NFL teams poking and prodding and bending and flexing his left leg, the one where he once had a tumor and that now has a 12-inch rod in place for support.
Team doctors got a look at him over the last few days in Indianapolis. They have checked out the leg - bending it to test its flexibility. But while some players have expressed surprise at the physical scrutiny they've undergone at the combine, Herzlich is used to it.
"A lot of people stress about medical stuff. I've been plenty versed on different medical stuff, so that's fine with me," he said. "I had all the answers because I've done it before."
NFL Network draft analyst Mike Mayock, however, said teams will be looking closely at his athleticism and lateral movement in linebacker workouts that begin Monday.
"The more athletic he can be," the more he can help himself, Mayock said. Any team that drafts Herzlich will have to show patience as he returns to his full athletic ability, Mayock said.
Herzlich said he feels 100 percent healthy.
"Monday, when we work out, it's going to be a fun day for me, because they're going to go, 'Oh, wow, he can move well again,' " he said.
Herzlich said the recent time off between the end of his college season and the combine has given him the time to get stronger and faster.
"I haven't had an offseason yet to get my strength back, to get my speed back. My first practice was three days before my first game," he said. In the last month, however, "the gains I've made have been incredible."
