Former Florida defensive end Dante Fowler Jr. will miss the 2015 NFL season after suffering a season-ending knee injury.
The Jacksonville Jaguars rookie suffered the injury on Friday, the first day of the Jaguars rookie minicamp. Fowler’s knee buckled during an 11-on-11 drill in minicamp and he had to be carted off the field to the locker room.
Tests revealed that Fowler tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, according to the Associated Press. Fowler expects to be back stronger and better next year.
''It's just one of them unfortunate things,'' Fowler said. ''If I would have never got hurt (Friday), we would have been talking about probably how good I was in practice. I was feeling good. It was a great first hour. Hopefully we're going to have a lot of good years to come."
Fowler was the third overall draft pick in this year’s draft. He hasn’t signed his rookie contract yet. He contract is expected to be for four years and worth $23 million fully guaranteed with a fifth-year option. Fowler never missed a game in his three years at Florida. He had 14 and a half sacks in his three years there, including eight and a half sacks last year, according to ESPN. Last year he was named first-team All-SEC.
The Jaguars had expected Fowler to be the center of their defense and replace Chris Clemons. Fowler becomes the first top three pick to miss a season since 1995, when number one pick Ki-Jana Carter missed his rookie year with the Cincinnati Bengals.