Josh Rosen was humbled by setbacks of last season, UCLA Coach Jim Mora says

Josh Rosen may have set an unofficial record for being a central topic at Pac-12 media days without having appeared before the media.

Two years ago, there was buzz about UCLA’s hotshot freshman quarterback. Last year, it was his posts on social media lampooning Donald Trump and the money-grubbing nature of college athletics. On Wednesday, a different side of Rosen emerged as told by his coach, Jim Mora: a more modest one.

“Certainly, being injured and having football kind of removed from his life as a player for the time that he did affected him, humbling himself to a certain degree, in accepting coaching,” Mora said, referring to the shoulder injury that ended Rosen’s season last October after only six games.

Rosen did not attend the event inside a ballroom at the Hollywood & Highland Center during what’s widely expected to be his third and final season as a Bruin before declaring for the NFL draft. UCLA instead brought senior center Scott Quessenberry, a first team All-Pac-12 Conference selection last season, and senior linebacker Kenny Young, who has been named to the Bednarik Award watch list for the nation’s top college linebacker. Rosen has recently declined interview requests but is scheduled to meet with the media Sunday morning on campus.

Mora said Rosen transitioning to a third offensive coordinator in as many years, upon the hiring of Jedd Fisch in December, has been helpful because of the quarterback’s interest in learning different approaches.

“He loves to absorb information,” Mora said. “To have a person like Jedd with his pedigree and his background and the people he’s coached for and the players that he’s coached, it’s all building this very strong platform for Josh that I believe he’s embraced and I see a very strong relationship there.”

UCLA was picked by the media to finish third in the Pac-12 South. That’s two slots lower than last season, when the preseason favorites tied for fourth with a 2-7 record in conference games while going 4-8 overall.

The Bruins are scheduled to open training camp in Westwood on Tuesday and will hold all their practices on campus instead of venturing to San Bernardino, as they had in previous seasons under Mora. Practices will be closed to the public.

ben.bolch@latimes.com

Twitter: @latbbolch