USC receiver Robert Woods is expected to return to the football field in early February after undergoing December surgery on the right ankle that bothered him throughout the 2011 season, but he's determined to change his approach this time to make sure he's healthy.

"I think I can run, but I've just been trying to play it safe," Woods said Tuesday, after the Trojans' first unofficial throwing session of the year, organized by the players. "It's a long season."

The right ankle for which Woods underwent surgery on Dec. 19 was originally injured on April 22 during a pick-up basketball game the night before USC's annual spring game. Warming up before a game at USC's recreational Lyon Center, Woods tried to do a quick dunk while his shoe wasn't properly tied and hurt the ankle.

He didn't know how severe it was at that time, but he did sit out of the spring game. Then he rushed back too quickly over the summer and didn't let it heal. By the time he realized it could be a long-term thing, it was mid-season and he didn't want to sit out of anything.

So he played through the pain, taking a anti-inflammatory shot midway through the year to help dull it.

"It was pretty bad," Woods said Tuesday. "Some games, it felt perfect. Some games, it didn't feel perfect.

"Really, the morning practices didn't help it all, because it was cold outside and it got kinda stiff and I just had to go through it."

Team doctors figured out after the season that Woods had actually torn ligaments in the ankle and, thus, a bunch of scar tissue had been built up. That's what the arthroscopic ankle surgery primarily removed.

Woods, who initially didn't think the injury was "that serious," now says he still feels pain in the ankle "here and there."

The initial prognosis of 4-6 weeks from the surgery would get him back to the field comfortably in time for the March 6 start date of spring practice, and Woods firmly believes he'll be ready.

"No doubt I am," he said. "I mean, I don't see why not. I should be cleared in February.

"The only way I wouldn't is if Kiffin decides to hold me out."

During the throwing session Tuesday, Woods operated as an assistant coach to quarterback Matt Barkley on the field, coaching Marqise Lee and the other young USC receivers on how to best catch balls from Barkley.

"He needs to be (as close to the action as possible)," Barkley said. "I think you learn more when you coach and when you’re telling guys what to do. I’m glad he’s out here being a leader."

The senior signal-caller also said he hoped Woods would focus more than he did last year on his own health and make sure he was completely healthy before he tried to return.

"We need him 100 percent all the way through the spring," Barkley said.