Former Indiana football players Nick Westbrook and Reakwon Jones have scoured through their home state of Florida, looking for gyms that are open or fields to work out on. Westbrook and Jones were supposed to audition in front of NFL scouts at IU footbal l Pro Day on Tuesday, but the event, like so many others, was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Neither Westbrook, a dependable IU receiver who finished his career with 2,226 receiving yards and 16 TDs, nor Jones, a 6-foot-2, 233-pound linebacker who had 100 career tackles for the Hoosiers, were invited to the NFL Scouting Combine. Both are fringe draft prospects who have a slim chance of being drafted in the later rounds. A Pro Day could have helped either Westbrook or Jones raise their respect ive stock. Last year at IU Pro Day, offensive lineman Wes Martin, who wasn't a Combine invite, wowed NFL scouts by bench pressing 225 pounds 38 times. That catapulted Martin to a fourth-round draft pick by the Washington Redskins."I had a lot to p rove and felt like I could prove it at the Pro Day, and I really could have benefitted from it," Westbrook said. "But, you know, you have to roll with what's happening because this is unprecedented times for sure." Like many players throughout the countr y, Westbrook has been creative in finding ways to get on the radar of teams. After taking part in the East-West Shrine game in front of NFL scouts in January, Westbrook worked out in Seattle, which turned out to be the early epicenter of the virus outbre ak. He left the workout facility in Seattle on March 15 to return to his native Florida but not before putting together a simulated Pro Day video to send to NFL teams. "It wasn't ideal because I was still in full training mode, wasn't able to cut back th e way I would want to before Pro Day and get my body right," Westbrook said. "But just recorded all of the different drills that I needed to do, and then my agent got all the different clips and compiled them all together and sent them out to all the tea ms. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get a professional videographer to put it together, but you know with my circumstances, I just had to kind of make the best of what I had." - Herald Bulletin
rSr/2020  WR Nick Westbrook, Indiana
News Source: Herald Bulletin
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