In the second round of the 2011 NFL Draft, the Tampa Bay Bucs took Da'Quan Bowers, a defensive end out of Clemson. Just weeks before the Draft, Bowers was considered a lock to go in the first half of the first round of the draft, but concerns about a knee injury caused him to slide all the way into the second. Where the Bucs decided to take him, and considering their need for a defensive end (even after taking Adrian Clayborn in the first round) it was a calculated risk that the Bucs could afford to take.
Bowers just did a sit down interview with NFL.com, and as you can imagine, the knee came up pretty early in the conversation. Bowers was ready to dismiss that injury as part of his past, and claims that he is "full go from here." You can find the interview here at NFL.com, but here is a full transcript of his comments.
On the state of his knee injury:
My knee is fine. It's way ahead of schedule. it took some time to get my strength back. But I've been going through rehab and working out ever since anuary when I had the surgery. It's finally back to the shape where I can run and cut like I aupposed to. It feels great, and I'm looking forward to being in Training Camp. No setbacks, to why I should be in Training Camp. So everything is a full go from here.
On what it felt like to slip into the second round after being projected to be an early first round pick.
It was a bit frustrating. But for some reason I wasn't upset. I was very calm. My agent couldn't figure out why I was so calm. But I knew that god had a plan for everything. There was a reason I didn't get drafted there. Look how it turned out. I ended up with a great team, with a great organization, with great young talent and a great young coach. You know, We're on our way to doing very positive big things.
On the young defensive line.
There's a lot of potential there. I was always taught that games were won up front, and with that group you just named, we control the game. I think if we all come to play on a daily basis, that we can be dominant and we can control all these games that we're going to play in. I think that if we win, and come with a positive mindset and attitude and a lot of energy, it will carry on throughout the rest of the defense. And that's gong to give the team a positive mindset and attitude.
Mr. Bowers, your closing remarks:
As far as I'm concerned, you know, when Training Camp comes, I'm going to do everything the Tampa Bay Bucs want me to do to ensure that I'm there as long as possible.
We'll be using this stream to cover Da'Quan Bowers and his recovery from the knee injury throughout the summer and Training Camp. For more on Bowers, check back on our NFL Draft stream for immediate reaction when we found out that Bowers would be a Buccaneer. You can also check out Bucs Nation for more on the Buccaneers.