Coaches say all the time that spring workouts are spent teaching individual technique — a priority that ranks above every goal except one: getting healthy.

Defensive lineman Aaron Davis is doing upper-body workouts while waiting for his sports hernia to heal (photo by Webmaster).

To that end, SMU defensive lineman Aaron “Spike” Davis is sitting out the Mustangs’ spring drills while recovering from surgery in February to repair a sports hernia (a tear in the lower abdominal muscles).

“I’m out all spring,” Davis said. “It feels pretty good now, but we don’t want to push it.”

Davis said he no longer is experiencing pain — “it gets a little sore sometimes, but nothing too bad,” he said — which has come as something of a surprise after watching two teammates, guard Bryce Tennison and cornerback Keith Robinson, deal with similar injuries.

“Bryce and K-Rob had the same thing, so I’ve seen how long it can take to come back,” Davis said. “I want to be out there on the field, but I don’t want to push it.”

Davis said the normal timetable for healing is “about three months before I can put stress on it again, and start doing squats again. For now, I can do upper-body workouts, so at least I’m doing something and feel good.”

The three-month estimate means Davis should be able to resume full workouts around May 10, shortly after he completes his final exams.