Jaguars select UCLA linebacker Myles Jack with 36th pick in NFL draft
Myles Jack performs a drill for scout during UCLA’s pro day last month.
Reporting from Chicago — Myles Jack’s long wait is over.
The versatile UCLA linebacker is headed to Jacksonville. The Jaguars made him the fifth pick Friday in the second round of the NFL draft, the 36th overall selection.
Jack, a 6-foot-1, 245-pounder once considered among the premier players in this year’s draft class, took a dramatic tumble out of the first round because teams were concerned about the condition of his surgically repaired right knee.
Amid reports he could be headed for microfracture surgery -- a procedure that has ended some football careers -- Jack said this week he’s not currently a candidate for that, but conceded he could be down the road.
Still, he has said his knee feels fine after seven months of intensive rehabilitation. He is confident he can play right away.
Jacksonville is coached by Gus Bradley, who was a Seattle Seahawks defensive assistant when Jack was a prep star at nearby Bellevue High.
Two picks before the Jaguars took Jack, the Dallas Cowboys selected former Notre Dame linebacker Jaylon Smith, another elite player who suffered a devastating knee injury in the Fiesta Bowl.
Follow Sam Farmer on Twitter: @LATimesfarmer
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