The doctor who performed surgery on Willis McGahee's left knee said the former University of Miami tailback should recover from his injury in time for the upcoming NFL season.

McGahee, who suffered three torn ligaments in his knee during the fourth quarter of the Jan. 3 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, will be able to withstand physical contact by June and should be healed by the fall, team physician Dr. John Uribe told the Miami Herald.

"I don't think there's any question," said Uribe, who performed the surgery Jan. 5. "You look toward August, September, and hopefully, we'll have something we can put on the field."

McGahee was a projected first-round selection before his injury, but the speed of his recovery could determine the difference in rounds he's drafted -- which likely means hundreds of thousands of dollars. ESPN draft expert Mel Kiper has McGahee projected to be taken between the third and fourth rounds.

McGahee's injury will prohibit him from participating in the NFL Scouting Combine on Feb. 20 in Indianapolis.

Uribe told the Herald that McGahee had been scheduled to use crutches for another two weeks, a total of six weeks after the surgery to repair his medial collateral and posterior cruciate ligaments and to reconstruct his anterior cruciate.

But McGahee's rehabilitation is going so well that he received permission from his physical therapist to walk without crutches at Walter Camp awards weekend in New Haven, Conn.

McGahee set Miami records in 2002 by rushing for 1,753 yards and 28 touchdowns.

The target date for his next goal -- running without making cut moves -- comes three months after surgery, the Herald reported. Six months from his surgery, McGahee should be able to withstand hits to his knee, Uribe said.

Uribe said McGahee's rehabilitation is ahead of schedule because of his lack of scar tissue.

"This kid, it was amazing," Uribe said. "He just breezed right through it. At four months, he was 100 percent."