Former Florida defensive end Jachai Polite was once viewed as a first-round draft prospect, but his stock has taken a noteworthy tumble due to physical limitations and his inability to impress teams during interviews. With roughly a month to go until the NFL Draft, Polite is trying to address some of those concerns.
In an honest interview with Kimberly Jones of NFL Network at Florida’s Pro Day, Polite said there isn’t much he can do about the hamstring injury he has battled, but he admitted to making “mistakes” while interviewing with teams.
With Jachai Polite at Florida pro day. Yes, hamstring still bothers him. Yes, he had a rough Combine. Can we cut the guy some slack, please? He turns 21 tomorrow & suggests here that he’s learned some hard — and costly — lessons. @RetireMoms #FloridaGators #GatorsFootball pic.twitter.com/qRuLxhMiMk
— Kimberly Jones (@KimJonesSports) March 29, 2019
“I made mistakes talking and not thinking about what I was saying, and I learned a lot,” Polite said. “It’s something I’ll cherish for the rest of my life because it’s something that really affected my life, made it shake a little bit. I was kind of scared, but it’s something I’ll learn from.”
Polite ran the 40-yard dash in a sluggish 4.84 seconds at the Scouting Combine, and he was unable to improve upon that at Pro Day because of his nagging hamstring injury. He also was reportedly a disaster during interviews with teams in Indianapolis, and he openly complained about getting bashed by them at one point.
If Polite’s physical shortcomings have been strictly because of injury, he could end up providing a nice value for a team that takes a chance on him. While interviews are important, a lot of scouts and executives will tell you that stuff can be overblown.
