At the NFL Combine, coaches and personnel men called Myles Jack a quitter, and some other names that weren’t nearly as nice.
Most didn’t know Jack. Some might have been trying to rile up the UCLA linebacker to see his reaction. Some might have believed their accusation.
After Jack withdrew from school to focus on the draft after suffering a season-ending knee injury in September, many questioned his decision, including Bruins coach Jim Mora, and his commitment to his team.
But those who grilled him in Indianapolis might not have understood how much Jack loves football.
When he was 8, Jack decided to start watching his Pop Warner DVDs, along with those of the upcoming opponent, so he could improve his game and attack his next foe’s weaknesses. He organized extra drills for his high school buddies and set up cones in his garage to do it when it rained. At UCLA, he ran with the track team so he could gauge and improve his speed, prompting Mora to call Jack’s mom in hopes she could discourage it.
Season ending injury
After Jack tore the meniscus in his right knee during a Sept. 22 practice and underwent surgery the same night, he and his mother, La Sonjia Jack, faced a difficult and unprecedented quandary.
Jack said doctors told them that if Jack didn’t devote himself to rehab full-time, his six-month recovery would turn into a year.
“He’s 20. Based on the medical input, if he goes to full medical rehab while he’s growing and can condition his body, we would just make a six-month timeline, which is right now, to enter this year’s NFL Draft,” La Sonjia Jack said in a phone interview from Atlanta last week. “If he stayed in class, that turned into a year because he would be in school all day, only an hour and a half a day at rehab. Was it a risk? Absolutely.”
Taking a risk
Considered a top 10 prospect, the junior decided to turn pro and moved to the Phoenix area on Nov. 1 to rehab with Brett Fischer, the physical therapist of the Arizona Cardinals who privately trains NFL and Major League Baseball players. La Sonjia Jack explained that Fischer had worked with NFL cornerback Darrelle Revis after a similar injury.
“Myles loved his teammates at UCLA and when he found out he could not play, it was devastating for him,” La Sonjia Jack said. “When he was younger, Myles looked at individuals who were going into the NFL, their junior year kind of set the stage. He was more than excited — he had three great first games. He thought, ‘Here’s my junior year, [and] I’m really going to show the world my skill set and take my team to the championship.’ ”
Jack thought he had the blessing of Mora, the former Atlanta Falcons and Seattle Seahawks coach. Then Mora told the media he feared Jack might not get drafted and said he should have returned for his senior season.
“He’s taking his chips and shoving them into the middle, and we hope he draws a good hand,” Mora told reporters, according to NFL.com. “I think it’s risky to do this. When you only play in three games and that’s all the tape they have of you your junior year. ... I’ve been in 25 draft rooms, and I’ve never seen a guy taken off of that ever.”
At the combine, Jack explained the conversation he’d had with Mora and said he wasn’t surprised by Mora’s comments.
“It was kind of bad timing because they had just lost to Arizona State,” Jack said. “We basically sat down and had a discussion face to face. He told me the good and the bad. So what he said in the media, it wasn’t new to me.”
NFL executives might not have liked his choice of “they” in that answer. But Jack’s injury and his early departure from UCLA aren’t likely to hurt Jack’s draft status, even though his medical recheck in Indianapolis the week of April 11 drew “differing opinions,” according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.
Jack could be a target of the Browns if they keep the eighth overall pick in Thursday’s draft. They let starting linebackers Karlos Dansby and Craig Robertson depart in free agency. At UCLA’s pro day, the Browns’ Hue Jackson was the only NFL coach in attendance. Jack and Jackson are represented by the same agent, John Thornton.
At 6-foot-1 and 245 pounds, Jack is a rare athlete that Mora once compared to Michael Vick and Julius Peppers. In his 2016 Draft Preview, Nolan Nawrocki put Jack in the same category athletically as the late Junior Seau and Patrick Willis.
Mike Mayock of NFL Network said in February that in Jack’s limited action last season, he saw “a guy that was more of a finesse player early in his career turn into a true linebacker.”
UCLA linebackers and special teams coach Scott White called Jack “a generational-type talent” during a phone interview last month.
“Myles is a rare one. We’ve had the privilege to have some very talented guys come before him in terms of Anthony Barr and Eric Kendricks,” White said of linebackers now with the Minnesota Vikings. “Myles, from the moment he walked through the door he could do everything. He retained information in terms of the playbook. Physically being able to get out there with the upperclassmen and more than hold his own.”
In 2013, Jack’s 75 tackles were the most by a UCLA freshman since Kenny Easley in 1977. Also rushing for 267 yards and seven touchdowns, he was named the Pac-12’s top rookie on offense and defense and was a finalist for the Paul Hornung Award given to the nation’s most versatile player.
As a sophomore, Jack increased his tackle total to 88, with eight for losses, seven pass breakups and an interception. In three games last season, he recorded 15 tackles and another pick.
White said Jack would play quarterback in the NFL if asked and laughed as he suggested the Browns might need him there.
“Myles just loves to play football,” White said. “A lot of times [quarterback] Brett Hundley used to point to a direction with his finger, put his hand behind his back and tell Myles which way to go and just hand him the ball and let him run.
Jack to stand out
“He’s pretty special that way. He has a very high football IQ and natural feel to go with the freakish athleticism. That’s what makes him rare — he can put both elements together in terms of the athletic ability with the innate football instinct. Those are things you cannot coach.”
White said what sets Jack apart from the rest of the linebackers in this draft are his coverage skills. As an example, White pointed to UCLA’s victory over USC in 2014, when Jack held Nelson Agholor, the 20th overall pick of the Eagles last spring, to three catches for 24 yards.
“He’s a guy you can do a lot of different things with and he’s going to give a defensive coordinator a ton of options,” White said. “I tell everybody I talk to there’s not a linebacker coach or a defensive coordinator or secondary coach who would not want to work with this kid.
“He’s a day one, instant impact player. In my mind, barring any unforeseen injury, he will be a Pro Bowler. Whether you’re a 3-4, 5-2, 4-3, whatever you’re playing, if you have Myles Jack your defense is better, there’s no question.”
Marla Ridenour can be reached at mridenour@thebeaconjournal.com. Read her blog at www.ohio.com/marla. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MRidenourABJ.