Stephfon Green may no longer be the fastest Penn State football player.
It's not because he's coming off right ankle surgery following the Rose Bowl, but rather because true freshman Devon Smith has drawn plenty of buzz with his Green-esque speed.
The fact Green was so willing to defend his own honor on Friday quelled any speculation over whether the redshirt sophomore feels any ill-effects after sitting out of spring practices following surgery on his dislocated right ankle in January.
"It's competition, which is gonna bring the best out of me," the sweat-soaked Green said after just completing 11 exercises at Lift for Life. "So I'd like to race [Smith] one time when I'm not tired and he's not tired. Set that up, we'd probably have some publicity out of that, too."
Green suffered his injury late in the Nittany Lions' 38-24 Rose Bowl loss to USC on New Year's Day and had surgery 12 days later.
Green -- who lost a fumble before halftime -- blames himself for the defeat.
"Oh man, I tell you right now -- I put the loss in the Rose Bowl all on my shoulders with that fumble right before halftime," Green said. "So I'm really anxious just to prove to everybody that I'm better."
Green said he went through the workouts Friday pain free and has felt 100 percent for more than a month. He insisted he had no limitations as a result of surgery.
Fellow running back Evan Royster agreed.
"He's starting to look good," Royster said. "He'll be good by camp and he'll be back by the season."
Green can't wait for it, even if it means he may now finish second in team races behind Smith, the 5-foot-7, 145-pound wide receiver from Maryland who runs a 4.34 40-yard dash, according to Scout.com.
Still, Green feels he has improved in other areas to become a more well-rounded running back.
"These guys got a head-start on me, so I'm just real anxious to come back in August and just get my team what they really needed." Green said.
