The Sports Xchange

Missouri edge rusher Shane Ray met with a foot specialist on Thursday whose recommendation was that surgery will not be necessary on Ray’s toe injury, according to NFL.com.

Ray is the No. 11-rated overall prospect by NFLDraftScout.com, but the status of the turf toe-like injury that kept him from working out at the Scouting Combine in February will be critical in teams deciding where Ray fits on their board among other pass rushers including Florida’s Dane Fowler, Jr., Vic Beasley, Alvin “Bud” Dupree and Randy Gregory.

Ray met with Dr. Aakash Shah in Kansas City a week before the start of the NFL Draft. According to multiple reports, some teams believe that Ray indeed will need surgery on the toe he injured in Missouri’s bowl game and could be sidelined three to five months. If Ray does not need surgery, he could be available for post-draft workouts.

Ray worked out at Missouri’s March 19 pro day, measuring in at a shade under 6-feet-3 and 249 pounds – having put on 15 pounds since the start of his training. He was clocked between 4.55 and 4.63 seconds in the 40-yard dash, mediocre numbers, but he looked “explosive” during pass rush drills, a high-ranking scout who attended the workout told NFLDraftScout.com.

“I put on this weight and I was still able to be explosive, athletic, still be me,” Ray said after his pro day workout. “I don’t feel like I really lost a step. I just feel like I’m at a better playing weight as far as showing that I can play in the 4-3 or the 3-4.”

However, some scouts in attendance were concerned that his disappointing times in the 3-cone drill and shuttles could have been due to the foot injury, and those concerns continue to linger for some NFL teams.

Ray led the SEC with 14.5 sacks during his first season as a starter in 2014.

–NFLDraftScout.com is a property of The Sports Xchange distributed in partnership with CBSSports.com.