While South Carolina running back Marcus Lattimore has received much of the attention for his rehabilitation from knee surgery, a handful of other players recovering from injuries were making news at the NFL Scouting Combine.

* SB Nation said teams were hesitant about taking Georgia linebacker Jarvis Jones after he was diagnosed with spinal stenosis. ESPN’s Chris Mortenson reported the projected first-round pick was cleared by one doctor.

Georgia’s Jarvis Jones did get favorable review on neck (stenosis) from Dr. Craig Brigham (neck, spine specialist), per various teams

— Chris Mortensen (@mortreport) February 24, 2013

NFL.com reported that Jones said Saturday he was feeling healthy.

“Most of the doctors checked me out, and they feel like that I’m fine, I don’t have no contusion or anything like that in (my spine),” Jones said. “I only had one accident of having a stinger at USC (in) 2009, my freshman year. Never had any symptoms after that.”

Jones suffered a neck injury during the 2009 season and was sidelined for the entire 2010 season. Jones was diagnosed with spinal stenosis, and USC doctors refused to clear him for contact and recommended he retire from football. Jones instead chose to transfer to Georgia, where he was medically cleared.

* USC quarterback Matt Barkley, who underwent offseason shoulder surgery on his throwing arm, is impressing at least one team with his attitude and demeanor, according to NFL.com.

Matt Barkley‘s drawing plenty of attention from the Arizona Cardinals. It’s an annual occurrence at the combine: This week in Indy always spawns several rumors. One such rumor has the Cardinals being very interested in Barkley. I’ve been told this exact same piece of information from a few different sources. According to one source, the Cardinals were extremely impressed with the USC quarterback during his interview this week.

Barkley told The New York Times he knows he won’t try to compare to last year’s quarterback class, which passed when he stayed in school.

But Barkley’s reputation plummeted with the Trojans’ record (7-6), and he sustained a shoulder separation in mid-November. Now he may slide out of the first round.

“There’s been a lot of comparisons recently to last year’s rookie class, and well deservedly,” Barkley said. “Those guys came in and played right away, won games, won playoff games. There’s always going to be that comparison, whether it’s just or unjust. I don’t feel any pressure on my part to live up to them. I know every situation’s different than what they went into last year.”

He added, “I have my standards, and hopefully those add up.”

* And the Columbus Dispatch reported that Ohio State defensive end John Simon is only participating in interviews after having shoulder surgery 2 1/2 weeks ago, an injury he aggravated at the Senior Bowl last month.

“I feel like I’m very versatile, and that can help me at the next level,” Simon said. “I feel I can play multiple positions, and that’s something that will work to my advantage in the draft.”

He said that some teams are interested in him as an outside linebacker in a 3-4 system.

– Bill Bradley, contributing editor