Zach Miller’s offseason foot injury may sound like just plain misfortune for a small-school kid trying to make it in the NFL.

But for the Jacksonville Jaguars, the injury to the second-year tight end from the University of Nebraska at Omaha goes beyond that. The former record-setting Mavericks quarterback is expected to become more of a playmaker this season.

Offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter told ESPN.com earlier this month that he’s still “excited about the role Zach can play … we have high hopes for him.”

Miller, who spent some time this past week back home in Weston, Neb., getting some treatment at UNO and working out at Wahoo Neumann, his alma mater, was unable to play in organized team activities after injuring his left foot while running pass routes in May. However, he said, he’ll be ready once reporting for training camp begins Thursday.

“It’s just a mid-foot injury, nothing too serious but not that minor,” he said. “I’ve got to be careful with it so it doesn’t turn into something worse.”

Miller’s impressive conversion from small-school quarterback to big-time tight end is one of the more intriguing story lines among the Midlanders preparing to start NFL training camp this week.

Drafted in the sixth round last year, Miller caught 21 passes for 212 yards while backing up Marcedes Lewis. He was most impressive in the season’s final month. He caught three passes for 74 yards — including a 62-yard gain — against Houston in early December. He made his first two NFL touchdown receptions in the season finale against Cleveland, when he caught eight passes for 69 yards.

Miller is starting to gain attention, including this high praise from Matt Williamson of Scouts Inc. earlier this week:

“Miller is an exceptional complement to the plodding Lewis at the tight-end position,” Williamson wrote. “Miller — not to be confused with the Oakland Raiders tight end of the same name — can run. Jacksonville would be wise to use a lot more two tight-end sets, often detaching Miller from the formation and using him from a variety of spots from the field.

“Miller is adjusting to this game at its highest level after playing quarterback at Nebraska-Omaha. He is a superb athlete for a tight end. … Miller can create mismatches. He can be a playmaker in any offense.”

Miller, 6-foot-4 and 245 pounds, hears the expectations and is hoping that he’ll become a bigger part of the Jaguars’ offense.

“I think I can get some mismatches here and there with my size and speed,” he said. “I think I move fairly well for a guy my size and have pretty good quickness. I think I can help stretch the field. From playing quarterback, I understand what we’re trying to do on offense and that means I’m comfortable lining up all over the place.”

That would include lining up as a quarterback in a Wildcat formation, Miller hopes, if the Jags elect to install that package. He rushed for 4,096 yards and 26 touchdowns as UNO’s quarterback — relying more on his quick feet and breakaway speed than his sledgehammer running.

“That would be fun,” Miller said. “I miss playing quarterback, and I wouldn’t mind being back there every now and then. If it works out, that would be cool, but if it doesn’t, it wouldn’t break my heart either.”

Think that the Jags aren’t serious about getting Miller more involved? Here’s what Koetter had to say to the Florida Times-Union in May, while mentioning the Jags’ leading returning wide receivers (Mike Sims-Walker and Mike Thomas), leading rusher and second-leading receiver (Maurice Jones-Drew) and starting tight end (Lewis):

“There are certain players that can make coaches look good,” he said. “… So you’re trying to put players in position — trying to get Mike Thomas one-on-one in the flat, trying to get Mike Sims-Walker one-on-one, trying to get Marcedes isolated on a linebacker, trying to get Maurice isolated on a linebacker, get Zach Miller on a linebacker. Those are ways you try to create explosive situations in the pass game.”

Miller said he spent much of the offseason in film study. One of his focal points was studying the work of Indianapolis tight end Dallas Clark, the all-pro to whom Miller’s potential is frequently compared.

“He’s just so savvy,” Miller said. “His football IQ is very high. He knows how to get open, and when he gets the ball thrown to him in space, he catches it.”

Miller’s plan to study Clark came in discussions with former Jags tight end coach Mike Tice. Miller credits Tice, a former college quarterback who played tight end in the NFL, for giving him his big break. It was Tice who came to Omaha for Miller’s pro day and he has no doubt that Tice urged the Jaguars to risk a draft choice on a Division II player who had never played tight end, with the exception of one all-star game.

So it was tough, Miller said, when Tice left in the offseason to become offensive line coach for the Chicago Bears.

“He’s the guy who basically got my foot in the door, who watched me when I was a raw prospect and took a chance on me,” Miller said. “When he left, it hurt because we’d had a relationship for a whole year. But our new (tight ends) coach, Rob Boars, is great, too. He’s very detailed. I’ve never seen anyone as detailed as him.”

The main detail for Miller now is to keep his foot healthy. He said missed time in OTAs hurts, but he thinks that it can be overcome.

“I don’t like sitting and watching my teammates play football when I’m not,” he said. “But mentally it wasn’t too big of a deal. I feel like I can grasp the game pretty well, even though I physically missed out on the repetitions. I don’t think it’s anything that’s going to be detrimental to my career, but it’s not anything I would want to do. Hopefully I can make up for it in camp and see how it goes.”

Contact the writer:

444-1027, rob.white@owh.com

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