It was a tiny bump in the road and not the end of it. Not hardly.
Last week at the NFL Combine, the Cyclone Nation had a lump form in the back of its throat as a report surfaced that claimed former Iowa State linebacker A.J. Klein had suffered a “serious knee injury” while participating in drills.
Shortly after that “news” broke, Klein tweeted that the injury wasn’t serious, proving the report to be false. The knee tweak is now being labeled as a “low level grade 1 MCL sprain.” Klein will join the rest of his old Iowa State teammates at Iowa State’s pro day on March 26 in Ames and he will be 100 percent healthy.
“Obviously wherever this league source came from, obviously it wasn’t the right information,” Klein told CycloneFanatic.com. “It wasn’t a good thing that that came out. I wish that they had talked to me first, or my agent, before anything was posted or put online like that. Now everything is cleared up. It is just water under the bridge and I am going to move on from there.”
In the events that Klein did participate in last week, he did quite well. Klein’s 4.66 40-yard dash time came as a pleasant surprise to many.
“I was happy with that,” said Klein. “Going in, people were questioning my speed and straight-line ability. I proved myself against everybody else. Hopefully that those questions about my athleticism can be put to rest because I think I went out there and proved myself.”
Klein’s 4.66 time was the sixth fastest among the group of 26 linebackers that ran at the combine.
“Yes, I wish I would have ran a little bit faster but a 4.66 electronic time isn’t too shabby,” said Klein.
Due to the knee tweak, Klein didn’t participate in any of the shuttles or the vertical jump drill in Indianapolis. Doing well in those events at pro day is a priority for No. 47. As is improving his bench press mark. Klein recorded 20 reps at the combine, which put him in the middle of the pack with other linebackers.
“I was not satisfied at all with my performance in bench press,” said Klein. “That’s not what I can do. I think I can have a much better showing than that.”
Klein said that he believes he can get that bench press mark up in the high-20’s.
Klein weighed in at 250 pounds and is in the best shape of his life. Along with fellow former Cyclone Jake Knott, Klein is being projected by “experts” as a mid to late round pick in April’s draft.
Klein is continuing to work out in Pensacola, Fla. as pro day approaches.
