Bowers works out in Death Valley for NFL personnel

Twenty-four of the 32 NFL teams were present to watch the Bowers' workout. The Atlanta Falcons had the biggest contingent with six people, while the Arizona Cardinals had five.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Fri Apr 01 13:45:27 GMT-04:00 2011

AUDIO: Da’Quan Bowers pro day press conference

CLEMSON – Da’Quan Bowers said he wanted to leave Death Valley on a high note, and Friday’s workout in front of NFL personnel gave him the opportunity to do just that.

The former Clemson All-American held a workout at Death Valley that lasted just under two hours, a workout that included some strength training work in the Clemson Strength Training Facility and various drills in Clemson Memorial Stadium.

Bowers ran the 40-yard dash three times and also did a three-cone drill and various other agility drills that are designed to evaluate linemen. Former teammates Miguel Chavis Miguel Chavis
Defensive Tackle
6-5, 285
Fayetteville, NC
View Full Profile , Jamie Cumbie Jamie Cumbie
Defensive Line
6-7, 255
Morris, IL
View Full Profile and Jarvis Jenkins Jarvis Jenkins
Defensive Tackle
6-4, 315
Clemson, SC
View Full Profile also worked out on Friday for the scouts.

A total of 41 people affiliated with NFL teams were in attendance on Friday. The list included one general manager, one head coach, three player personnel directors, one defensive coordinator, four defensive line coaches and 31 scouts. Twenty-four of the 32 NFL teams were represented. The Atlanta Falcons had the biggest contingent with six people, while the Arizona Cardinals had five.

Bowers was officially measured at 6-3, 276 pounds and registered a 34 ½ inch vertical leap. His fastest official time in the 40-yard dash was 4.8 seconds.

“My 40 time wasn’t the best, but other than that, all my drills were great,” Bowers said. “My short cone, my short shuttle, my position stuff went really well. I got a little winded, due to the fact that I wasn’t able to condition like I should have, because I was a month behind everyone else. But other than that, I had a great day.”

Bowers admitted on Friday that he tore his meniscus during Clemson’s 14-13 win over North Carolina St. on November 6th, and played with the tear for the rest of the season. He had surgery after the bowl game.

“If you watch the tape very close, you can see me limp when I get up and I felt it right there,” he said. “I did it on my second sack. I’m not sure what happened. I was going through the right tackle, and I got up feeling it. It hurt really bad, but it wasn’t about me. It was about my teammates and my university, and I knew they would struggle without me. I couldn’t bring myself to do that.”

He said that that following a game, he really couldn’t practice until Thursdays, and then was ready for the games.

But the injury did affect his explosiveness off the line.

“It affected my performance a lot playing on a meniscus tear,” he said. “It was very painful. I remember showing up at practice and not being able to move at all and saying, ‘What’s going on?’”

Bowers has been invited to the NFL draft in New York in late April, but has not decided if he will attend. “This is a big thing for my hometown (Bamberg, SC) and for my family,” he said. “I have thought about sharing it with them in Bamberg. I will make a decision the week of the draft.”

Bowers said the biggest thing was being able to perform in Death Valley one last time.

“Being home in my back yard is what I wanted,” he said. “I wanted to work out in Death Valley one last time, and I thought I did well. The last game I played here I lost, but my last workout here I won. That is the way I wanted it to end.”