Jacksonville Jaguars coach Gus Bradley confirmed Saturday that No. 3 overall pick Dante Fowler will miss the entire 2015 season after tearing his ACL in the first practice of rookie minicamp.
Bradley noted that Fowler's sprit and mindset are "hard to be matched," which was evident when the first-round pass rusher took to the podium on Saturday.
A smiling and incredibly upbeat Fowler vowed to come back as an improved player in 2016.
"That's the game of football," Fowler reasoned. "You're out there laying your life on the line every play. You don't know what's going to happen. And this is just one of those unfortunate things. But I'm going to be able to bounce back."
Fowler has never missed a game due to injury in his high school or college career.
"If I didn't get hurt yesterday," Fowler said, "we were going to be talking about probably how good I was in practice because I was feeling good."
Among the players who reached out to Fowler was Rams first-round pick Todd Gurley, who is recovering from an ACL injury of his own.
Bradley has advised Fowler to maintain a sense of perspective, as there are times in every NFL player's career when setbacks are encountered.
"Dante said through this adversity I'm going to come back bigger, stronger and use this opportunity for my advantage," Bradley added. "What a great lesson for all the guys in the room."
If Saturday's press conference is any indication, Fowler will "fight on," as Steelers coach Mike Tomlin suggested:
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