CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- "Uncle Kev" running route combinations and catching passes in a lot somewhere in Pittsburgh was enough for Phil Jurkovec to get back into the groove this offseason.
It was a tough for him to admit, but Jurkovec needed to take his foot off the gas for a longer period than he wanted, after sustaining a hand injury during Week 2 last season against Massachusetts.
The former Pine-Richland star quarterback played through it for four more games, and he wasn't 100% in any of those. A lost season at Boston College meant an offseason of rehab and getting his strength back to full before spring.
"Not many receivers are still around from my high school class," Jurkovec said. "They're all doing different things. They don't want to run routes anymore, but I'll still get my uncle out there, and I'll get whoever's around. I'll always find a few people to throw to. Uncle Kev's still out there running deep digs and flat patterns."
He was primed for a breakout season after a respectable 2020 season, his first with the Eagles program after transferring from Notre Dame. But, the former PIAA state champion and one-time four-star recruit went 3-2 overall under center and split a pair of games within the Atlantic Coast Conference schedule.
The injury derailed any momentum he might have had the chance to build. Jurkovec wasn't the same. He completed 54.2 percent of his passes -- down from 61 percent the season prior -- while being severely limited.
At Wednesday's ACC Kickoff event in Charlotte, N.C., Eagles head coach Jeff Hafley praised Jurkovec's offseason work ethic, and Jurkovec reinforced that he's 100% healthy and ready for the start of the 2022 season.
"This offseason has been great," Jurkovec said. "I'm fully healthy, so I'm all good to go, but it was a little bit tough there last season at the end."
Jurkovec is being generous.
The injury clearly affected his production. He threw one fewer interception in five games last season than he did in all of 2021. The only multi-touchdown game he registered against a Football Bowl Subdivision opponent was against Georgia Tech, which had the second-to-worst defense in the league.
He completed 16 of 24 passes for 303 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions in Boston College's season opener against Football Championship Subdivision foe Colgate. After the injury sustained against UMass, his season might as well have been finished.
"Phil played one game healthy," Hafley said. "One, against Colgate. He didn't have to do too much. No disrespect to Colgate, but the game got out of hand, and we didn't throw it around like we were throwing it 50 times a game like his first year when we lit it up. Phil goes down with a freak hand injury, falling on the sideline in Week 2, and I was told Phil was out for the year."
But, he wasn't. Jurkovec was cleared by team doctors quicker than expected.
"Everybody understands what type of person he is, what type of quarterback he is," Hafley said. "... Now, that didn't mean he was ready to play. I was told he had 50% grip strength in his throwing hand, and we're getting ready to play a night game on a short week against Virginia Tech, and he comes in my office and he tells me he wants to play."
He played, and he didn't have his best game, but it also wasn't his worst. Boston College beat Virginia Tech 17-3, as Jurkovec completed 7 of 13 passes for 112 yards and an interception. The following week, he torched Georgia Tech for 310 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions.
The signs of his hand's health were made clear towards the end of the season. In Boston College's final two ACC games, he combined to complete 13 of 35 passes for 167 yards, two TDs and three INTs. He completed 3 of 11 attempts for 19 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions and sat the fourth quarter against No. 18 Wake Forest in the regular-season finale.
Jurkovec spent his offseason in between Boston and Pittsburgh slowly gaining the strength and flexibility in his hand.
"Took a little bit of time -- some weeks, some months after the season -- to be feeling completely healthy with my wrist," Jurkovec said. "That wasn't anything to do with coming back to it early. The doctor had said that I'd have soreness and some problems with it for a few months afterwards. I just took it day-by-day and waited it out. By spring ball, it was fine."
Hafley said Jurkovec has a renewed outlook heading into his redshirt senior season.
"The coolest thing I'll say about him, if you were in here last year with him, he's a whole different, mature, confident, different guy right now, which is awesome," Hafley said.
