No prospect wants to enter the combine feeling less than 100 percent. In fact, many prospects decline to participate in drills even when they are completely healthy, preferring to work out for scouts in the comfort of their own campuses on Pro Day. Alabama’s Andre Smith and Georgia’s Matthew Stafford, both potential top-5 picks, are two prospects not working out at the combine this year (see the Pro Day workout schedule).

Pittsburgh’s LeSean McCoy has perhaps the best reason to skip the workout portion of the combine. He came down with the flu earlier this week and was noticeably struggling throughout his press conference.

He paused to cough or sneeze several times and could barely get through a sentence without taking a deep breath or sniffling.

Despite such an obvious excuse to bail out, he was steadfast in his decision to participate.

“I don’t want to just blow anything off. Actually when I was flying out here, I kind of vomited on the plane, you know, embarrassing moment, but it’s something that happened. It’s life I guess, you are going to get sick sometimes,” McCoy shared sheepishly.

“Some people said to back off, but I think that would be a cowardly move.”

And so McCoy will move forward. While he will be unable to do the bench press after losing 10 pounds during the past few days, he plans on running the crucial 40-yard dash and doing the other drills.

“I’m competitive. I see these other guys working and training, going out there and performing. A guy like me gets that itch, that burn, so I want to go out there and do the same thing,” said McCoy.

Despite his obvious illness, McCoy was one of the most accommodating prospects so far, even staying longer to answer every reporter’s question.

Regardless of how his drills turn out, he has made himself an easy player to root for this weekend.

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