Bryce Love recovering from December surgery for torn ACL

Stanford running back Bryce Love is recovering after undergoing surgery last month to repair a torn right ACL, he told Yahoo Sports on Friday.

Love said he suffered the injury during the fourth quarter of the Cardinal's regular-season finale against Cal and had surgery Dec. 18.

"I'm very grateful to Dr. [James] Andrews and his team for making the surgery a seamless process," Love said in a statement to Yahoo Sports. "Obviously, there's no such thing as an ideal injury, but I'm on the path to recovery, and my goal remains the same -- getting drafted by an NFL team and being the ultimate professional. I'll be back better than I've ever been."

The day before the surgery, Love had announced that he would not play in the Hyundai Sun Bowl, which Stanford won 14-13 over Pitt on Dec. 31, saying he wanted to "focus on being completely healthy and prepared for the 2019 NFL draft." But the running back did not disclose the extent of his injury at that time.

Love intends to participate in the NFL scouting combine in some way and told Yahoo Sports he was opening up about his injury to be transparent to NFL teams that could be interested in drafting him.

After rushing for 2,118 yards and 19 touchdowns in 2017, Love was held to 739 yards on 97 fewer carries in 2018. He averaged at least 7 yards per carry in each of his first three seasons before dropping to 4.5 last season, the result of a nagging ankle injury and uncharacteristically poor line play from the Cardinal.

Love had previously been listed as the No. 2 draft-eligible running back by ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. and Todd McShay.

Information from ESPN's Kyle Bonagura was used in this report.