PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – It had been since he was in youth football that he didn't play quarterback, but wanting to continue your football career will make you do almost anything. Phil Jurkovec is getting a crash course in playing tight end to try to make the NFL.
He started making the transition late in the year after he was replaced at quarterback and then moved down to third-string. The former Pine-Richland star was looking for a way to get on the field. Wednesday, he was on the field at the UPMC Rooney Complex on the South Side running routes at tight end in front of representatives from 31 NFL teams.
"It's been fun, a whole different position," Jurkovec said after Pitt Pro Day. "A different way of training, but it's been fun. I'm making a lot of progress with it too."
Jurkovec has been asking a bunch of questions. One of the people he leaned on was a former teammate, Tommy Tremble, the now Carolina Panthers tight end from Notre Dame. He also talked to a player from a rival high school. Shaler Area great, six-year NFL tight end and former Pitt Panther J.P. Holtz.
Then there were the guys he recently played with at Pitt. Gavin Bartholomew was among the current players watching the workout with Jurkovec and Malcolm Epps.
"We just brought him under our wing," Epps said. "Everything that I was working on, I would teach him. If I saw him doing something wrong, I wouldn't hate, just because another guy came in the room. I want to compete, but I want my room to be the best room possible. I had to make sure he was OK."
"At some point in the (2023) season I thought here is an opportunity to play a different position and see what I have to offer doing it," Jurkovec said.
"I've got soft hands, I can catch the ball really well. Just working on the types of cutting and doing all of that. I would love to get into a camp and compete."
Jurkovec said playing quarterback he understands the value of a tight end. Knows what a tight end has to do in terms of route running and blocking, not only downfield, but at the line of scrimmage. It's just a matter now of getting reps.
"There is a steep learning curve," Jurkovec admitted. "There Is a lot to learn, but I think I'm making a lot of progress. I'm willing to put in the work and see how it goes."
Even though their coaching decisions led to him changing positions and not seeing the field for most of the second half of his final college season, Jurkovec thanked Pitt for their support during his workouts. He said a couple of teams have talked to his agent and believes some team will give him a shot.
It was kind of a surreal moment to see the five-star Notre Dame quarterback running pass patterns at the Pitt facility while being thrown balls by a quarterback (Christian Veilleux) who started at Penn State.
Crazy stuff, the only thing crazier would be Jurkovec landing with a team. Maybe it's the way this story should end.
