Ashtyn Davis risked cross-country trip to Philly as NFL draft prospects try to allay teams’ medical concerns

There were eight, maybe 10 passengers on the red-eye flight from LAX to Philadelphia last Sunday night, Ashtyn Davis estimated. Davis had a row to himself. He didn’t try to make small talk with anyone seated nearby or the flight attendants.

“There were no lines for anything,” Davis said. “I had my gloves and my mask, and I was just trying to touch the least amount of surfaces possible.”

Flying across the continent in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic was a calculated risk for Davis, a safety from Cal who probably will be selected in the second or third round of the NFL draft April 23-25.

To nail down that status, Davis and agent Ryan Williams felt Davis needed one final thumbs-up this week from Philadelphia surgeon William Meyers, who repaired Davis’ torn adductor muscle, near his groin, on Dec. 18.

“I didn’t have to see Dr. Meyers, but I didn’t want any teams to have any question marks when it came to draft day,” Davis said Thursday from his Santa Ana, Calif., apartment. “I wanted to answer as many questions as possible. I’ve got nothing to hide.”

Davis got to his 10 a.m. Monday appointment quite a bit early, so he walked around the Navy Yard, where Meyers practices at the Vincera Institute. Meyers is the most popular surgeon for athletes across the country seeking surgery for core muscle tears.

After his exam, Davis went straight back to the airport and sat there, away from other passengers, such as there were, until his evening flight home.

As you might have heard by now, we are struggling through the strangest NFL draft process in recent memory. Commissioner Roger Goodell has scrubbed the draft extravaganza scheduled for Las Vegas but has decreed the selection process will take place as scheduled, with general managers making picks from their homes via the internet, despite concerns over how appropriate such an event might seem in the middle of the shutdown and the limitations the pandemic has imposed on teams’ efforts to prepare.

Most prospects saw their college pro days canceled, and prospects recovering from injury, such as Davis, weren’t able to travel to various team headquarters to be examined by team doctors. Davis wasn’t ready to run or do position drills at the NFL scouting combine in February; he was looking forward to Cal’s pro day for that.

“That’s the hardest part right now, is trying to find a field that I can do my position work at and feel comfortable doing that.”

Unanswered medical questions might be the biggest variable in this draft. NBC’s Peter King recently reported that an anonymous NFL general manager called Davis “the mystery man of the draft,” because of his surgery. Reluctantly, Williams booked his client for a trip to Philly at a time when such trips are discouraged, as public health officials try to limit the spread of the virus.

“It was definitely a concern. It was definitely something we thought about,” Williams said this week. “He went back to it, saying, ‘It’s something that I can control. I feel like if I’m smart and safe and wear a mask and wear gloves and wash my hands, I’ll be OK. If that’s what I need to do in order to get that box checked, then I’m going to do it. I’ve been working my whole life to get drafted into the NFL.’

“It’s not a perfect science. None of this is perfect, and I think the one thing Ashtyn has been very clear on is that he doesn’t blame anyone. He doesn’t blame the NFL for canceling his pro day. He doesn’t blame his injury for [putting him in this situation]. He takes it all in stride.

“He’s just very mature about it. … I think that’s one of the things teams kind of get from him. He understands that there are more important things in this world, [though there is] nothing more important to him. It hasn’t been easy.”

Davis said he has done “upwards of 20” video chats with teams, including the Eagles, who very well could be in the market for a safety in the second or third round, especially one who was a Pac-12 110-meter hurdles champion. He said most of the questions concerned football acumen, though he also was asked about his injury.

“I like that we’ve found a way to get those meetings done and show teams that I do know what I’m talking about when it comes to scheme and things like that,” Davis said.

No one can say how the lack of individual medical evaluations will affect the draft.

Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, likely a top-10 overall pick, is coming back from hip surgery. His agent has provided plenty of documentation that the quarterback’s hip is fine. But the draft media waters were roiled this week when former NFL general manager Mike Lombardi alleged that Tagovailoa’s public medical history was incomplete, that there were previously unknown wrist injuries that further complicate the question of durability. Tagovailoa then did a video pro day to emphasize his good health.

This is the sort of thing teams like to have their own doctors evaluate, and that is something that is not happening in 2020.

Tagovailoa and Davis will still get drafted even if unease causes them to slide a bit.

Agent Steve Caric, whose clients include Eagles tight end Zach Ertz, represents a draft prospect named Markus Bailey, a linebacker from Purdue. Bailey missed almost the entire 2019 season after suffering a torn ACL in practice. He wasn’t ready to run at the combine. Bailey’s pro day was going to cement him as a fourth- or fifth-rounder, Caric and Bailey had hoped. Speed was a big asset.

Now, they must try to make up for that lost opportunity, to ensure Bailey does get drafted somewhere.

Last week, Caric filmed a detailed workout Bailey did in Arizona, where he has been rehabbing with Cardinals physical therapist Brett Fischer.

Caric made sure every team got the workout video. Then he had Cardinals orthopedist Gary Waslewski reexamine Bailey, to affirm that Bailey’s knee hadn’t swelled from the activity.

“In general, representing rookies right now, whether they’re injured or healthy, you have to be proactive,” Caric said. “You can’t just wait for teams to do homework because there’s so many prospects, and you [want to] give them answers before they ask.”

Caric said he felt it was important to “let people know every step of the way, you can be comfortable drafting this player.”

As the draft draws closer, restrictions on public activity have tightened. Williams said that Davis “has been thrown off of pretty much every high school field here in Southern California.” The agent is trying to secure one next week to make a video of drills and give teams a 40 time for Davis, who before his surgery was exceptionally fast for a safety.

“That’s the hardest part right now, is trying to find a field that I can do my position work at and feel comfortable doing that,” Davis said. “Pretty much every public facility is shut down for the time being. …

"I just kind of would go on a field that looks empty, looks like no one is using it. Then someone would roll up in a golf cart and tell me that it was closed, and I’d have to pack my things halfway through my workout.”

Davis said he has “two little gallon jugs that I use as my dumbbells. I just kind of make the most of what I have around my apartment.”

Overall, he said, “I do what I can. I’m just excited to be [in the draft process]. This is a good problem to have.”