UCLA coach Jim Mora Jr. made the announcement during a press conference Tuesday morning.
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In a similar situation to Jack’s, Todd Gurley wasn’t hurt too much, if at all, by leaving Georgia after his junior year last season after suffering a torn ACL.
Jack was a jack-of-all-trades for UCLA, lining up at several linebacker positions, as well as safety, cornerback, and running back.
Mora added, “My personal opinion is he’s a tremendous football player and a tremendous athlete…And as I told Myles on Sunday, NFL teams are very, very conservative, and if there’s any question whatsoever, they’ll pass on you in heartbeat”.
A September knee injury ended UCLA star linebacker Myles Jack’s 2015 season.
Mora has a history of publicly calling out his players both in college and in the National Football League, and just this year, he called out true freshman quarterback Josh Rosen for his performance in preseason practice. “But other than that, I don’t really have a reaction other than making sure he knows we’ll always be there to support him”.
And then Mora made public remarks saying he believes “it’s very risky to do this…there is going to be a lot speculation on exactly what he is and where he fits”.
“He’s taken his chips and he’s shoving them into the middle”, Mora told reporters in Los Angeles. There is, and Jack has looked special since he joined UCLA. “That’s what gave him the ability play defense, go over to running, return kickoffs”. “Never. I worry about that for him”.
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Myles Jack might be taking a chance, but he’s not going to let his next chance be for free. The injury was severe enough to take him out for the season. Appearing for the first time in a late October in a win at Arizona, he rushed for 120 yards and one touchdown on six carries. Mora added, according to ESPN, that Jack will be focused on rehabilitating his knee. Now that he’s no longer a UCLA student, the 20-year-old will rehab and train on his own, likely at an out-of-state facility. I’ve never seen a guy taken off (three games of junior tape).
