John Ross got tips from mentor DeSean Jackson before record 40

The NFL boasts few deep threats who are better than DeSean Jackson, but new 40-yard dash record-holder John Ross might challenge him next season.

If so, Jackson may have himself to blame.

The former Washington receiver trained with Jackson before breaking Chris Johnson's 40-yard record on Saturday at the NFL combine. As both pass-catchers hail from Long Beach, Calif., Jackson reached out to Ross following the latter's knee surgery back in his sophomore year to invite him to train together in Los Angeles.

"It helped a lot because he showed me how to control my speed, how to calm down and just relax and have fun," Ross said, according to Redskins.com's Jake Kring-Schreifels. "Before, I just figured, I am faster than this guy, I can just outrun this guy.

"All the time, that don't work. For example, if you are going up against a great corner like (teammates) Sidney Jones or Kevin King, those guys will defeat the speed with good technique. It was good for me to get into with DeSean and learn how to use it and when to use it and when to turn it on and when to turn it off."

After his combine performance, Ross will enter the draft being known as "that really fast guy," but after working with Jackson, he feels confident that his speed isn't the only thing he brings to the table.

"I didn't just want to be just a speed guy. I wanted to use my speed to help me get better in different ways," Ross said. "So that is what I did. Focus less as a speed guy and run just intermediate routes and just playing better than what people thought I would."