For nearly a month, most of the reports on defensive end prospect Da’Quan Bowers and his surgically repaired knee were negative.

First came the report that his draft stock was falling. Then there was one that his knee surgery was more serious than Bowers claimed. Then came the rumors that he failed at least two physicals, that he was being removed from multiple teams’ draft boards and finally, that he may need microfracture surgery.

Oh, and he also turned in a less-than-spectacular effort at Clemson’s Pro Day.

But finally, with less than a week to go before the first round of the draft, we have some positive news surrounding Bowers’ health.

Lions’ GM Martin Mayhew and Browns’ GM Tom Heckert both said this week that team doctors have cleared Bowers’ knee. Neither GM went into detail, but there’s now reason to believe that the reports on Bowers over the past month have been overblown.

“Our doctors have looked at him 100 times,” Heckert said. “He went to the recheck, so we’ve done our due diligence. I don’t want to get into all the medical stuff, but we think his knee is going to be all right.”

Granted, both Mayhew and Heckert could be misleading the media and, in turn, other teams as well. If you’re a GM and you know you’re not going to draft someone, make sure you have nothing but positive things to say about that prospect. You want other teams thinking that you’re going to snag a player that they want so there’s at least a possibility that you can trade and potentially acquire more picks.

But hey, that said: here’s hoping Bowers’ knee is fine and he’s still a top-10, or at least a top-15 selection. He’s a great prospect and could wind up being a steal depending on where he’s taken.

Every week there seems to be a new report about defensive end prospect Da’Quan Bowers’ knee and every week it’s negative.

This week, Pro Football Weekly’s Nolan Nawrocki told reporters that teams are concerned that Bowers may need microfracture knee surgery. Rotoworld.com has more details.

Nawrocki says all of the medical red flags could push Bowers into the back half of round one. We’d heard the microfracture rumors before, but there wasn’t anything substantial enough to run with them. Nawrocki insists there are. Bowers will be in Indianapolis Friday for a medical recheck. At that point, doctors will determine whether he needs a surgical procedure that would almost certainly cost him the entire 2011 season.

Once considered a potential candidate to be taken No. 1 overall, Bowers is probably listed behind North Carolina’s Robert Quinn, Missouri’s Aldon Smith and Cal’s Cameron Jordan. Depending on how freaked out teams are about Bowers’ knee, Iowa’s Adrian Clayborn, Wisconsin’s J.J. Watt and Purdue’s Ryan Kerrigan might be listed ahead of him as well. The bottom line is that this is a deep draft for defensive ends and teams probably won’t think twice about moving him further down their draft board.

That said, the Saints (No. 25) and Falcons (No. 27) are two defensive end-needy teams that select in the bottom of the first round and if Bowers falls, maybe he’ll be too good to pass up at that point. After all, we’re talking about a young man who many pundits thought would go in the top 5, if not No. 1. Then again, if his knee is too big of a concern then there’s no telling how far Bowers could fall.