Phil Jurkovec Working With Pitt TEs in Practice

Phil Jurkovec has been working with the Pitt Panthers tight ends in practice.

PITTSBURGH -- Pitt Panthers quarterback Phil Jurkovec's football life has changed dramatically over the past three weeks.  

He was benched during the Panthers' bye week, then bumped down to third-string before they made a trip to Wake Forest last week. Now, he's beginning to play different positions entirely. 

Jurkovec was still wearing a red jersey saved exclusively for quarterbacks during the portion of this week's practices open to media, but wore two gloves and worked on catching balls instead of throwing them. And during individual position groups, he ran drills with the tight ends instead of the quarterbacks. Jurkovec had also been spotted working with the punt team as a protector last week. 

"He wants to play a little bit over there and he still doesn’t have a position change but he’s on kickoff return, he’s on punt team," Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi said.

Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, originally reported weeks ago that Jurkovec had been benched and was seeking to change positions. After the bye week, Narduzzi confirmed that he had changed starting quarterbacks but denied that Jurkovec was moving to tight end. This week, he was more willing to share that Jurkovec was exploring other options. 

Jurkovec certainly has the size to play tight end at 6'5 and 245 pounds. He has shown some athletic ability running with the football. He had been a quarterback - and a good one - all the way through high school. If he has any experience as a tight end, it came when he was a kid.

Narduzzi said it's not for him to decide if Jurkovec has a future as a tight end at the next level but that he is trying to find any way to keep his football career alive.  

“That’s not for me to decide what he’s doing," Narduzzi said of his professional prospects. "He’ll play anything. He’s going where we can get him in.”

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