An otherwise impressive performance ended with a pop when Ryan Mouton suffered a hamstring injury while running the 40-yard dash at the National Football League Scouting Combine yesterday in Indianapolis.

Mouton, a former University of Hawaii'i defensive back, said the injury is not serious. He vowed to run the 40 at the April 2 Pro Day in Carson, Calif.

"I'll be OK," he said.

Mouton said he "popped" his left hamstring at about the 30-yard mark, and hobbled the rest of the way.

Mouton was credited with an "unofficial" time of 4.48 seconds, said his agent Kenny Zuckerman.

Zuckerman also said the injury does not appear to be serious. Mouton will be evaluated in Honolulu this week.

Mouton said he had suffered a tight hamstring during last month's East-West Shrine Game in Houston.

Mouton, who is listed at 5 feet 9 and 187 pounds, was impressive in field drills yesterday. He had a vertical jump of 39 1/2 inches, and a broad jump of 10 feet, 9 inches.

Another Zuckerman client, former UH defensive end David Veikune, also returns to Honolulu today after a successful performance at the combine.

Veikune bench-pressed 225 pounds 35 times, the fourth highest total among the combine participants. Veikune said NFL officials required the players to follow strict lifting guidelines.

"Anything that was a little off, they'd take off (the total)," Veikune said.

Veikune had set a goal of 35 repetitions.

"I reached it," Veikune said. "Anything after that would have been great."

In the 40-yard dash, Veikune's announced official time was 4.87 seconds, ninth best among the linemen. But he said that was the slowest of the recordings by the three timers. One official clocked Veikune at 4.79 seconds.

Veikune also completed the L-drill, which is not shown on the NFL Web site, in 4.20 seconds.

Because of his success in field drills, Veikune will not compete in lifting or running drills at Pro Day. Instead, he will participate in position drills. He said he will spend the next few weeks working on his back-pedal moves.

Most important, Veikune interviewed with every NFL team at the combine.

"(USC quarterback) Mark Sanchez said it was like speed dating," Veikune said.

Veikune said he also had one-on-one interviews with the head coaches of the Dallas Cowboys, Chicago Bears, Kansas City Chiefs and Arizona Cardinals.