PISCATAWAY -- If Matt Flanagan didn't make a strong enough impression on Rutgers' new tight ends coach based on his play on the field, the fourth-year junior certainly impressed Vince Okruch based on his toughness.

A starter in all 12 games last season, Flanagan arrived for spring camp looking to prove himself all over again to Rutgers' new coaching staff. During the third practice of camp, Flanagan injured the pointing finger on his left hand and if that doesn't sound all that significant, he has a picture of it that he's not yet willing to publicly share.

"I won't show you guys a picture,'' Flanagan said. "From where the nail starts up, it was detached. They sewed it back on and here I am. Wrap it up, a lot of tape and put this finger in front of this so when I'm catching balls it's easier. It's gotten better. (It happened) and obviously got surgery that same day. The next two days they told me not to do anything because the stitches would've popped. Now that it's healed a little more. I've been pretty much full go since then.''

Okruch didn't need a photo to see how gruesome of an injury it was for a player who prides himself on having good pass-catching hands.

"He's a tough guy,'' the Rutgers tight ends and special teams coach said. "If I showed you a picture of that, it was awful. Never seen that injury before. He's gotta protect it. He's got a splint on it. He's doing what he's supposed to do. He didn't really miss any time. We just had to hold him back because he had stitches.''

After hauling in 11 passes for 110 yards and three touchdowns and drawing solid reviews for his blocking in the most productive campaign of his career last fall, Flanagan is being counted in a newly installed power-spread offense that relies on its tight ends differently than past Rutgers pro-style attacks did.

"It's a little different,'' said Flanagan, who could line up on the line, get split out like a wide receiver or line up in the backfield as an H-back on any given play. "We're doing a lot of the same stuff. We moved around a lot (in motion) obviously. It took a couple of practices to get used to. It's a lot of fun. It's something we've been able to work on a lot during the offseason training. Moving around is pretty comfortable, although there is still a lot of stuff that we do (where) we put our hand on the ground. But there is that ability to move across a formation. It's something I think I'm doing pretty well.'

'The 6-foot-6 Flanagan has also benefited from Rutgers' conditioning program implemented by new strength coach Kenny Parker, gaining 17 pounds and tipping the scales at 255.

"They're feeding us good here. That's what I'll say about that,'' he said, smiling.

For now, the former walk-on out of West Morris-Mendham High School is competing with Nick Arcidiacono and Charles Scarff for the right to start this season.

"Right now I'm very comfortable with all three of them in a game,'' Okruch said. "All three have their strengths and all three have their weaknesses. Depending on the situation, it might be a different guy in the game. If we were to play a two tight end offense right now, it would be Flanagan and Arch. They're interchangeable I think at this point in time.''

Okruch conceded that Flanagan, should he serve as the primary tight end, will be asked "to do a lot of different things.''

"They line up in a lot of different places, and so far so good with learning the system,'' Okruch said of the tight ends group as a whole. "I think right now we need to get back to being mentally sound. There was a lot of mental stuff that they had to go through and I think they've done a nice job with it.''

Keith Sargeant may be reached at ksargeant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @KSargeantNJ. Find NJ.com Rutgers Football on Facebook.