Pressure, personal matter affected UCLA linebacker Mique Juarez

UCLA linebacker Mique Juarez said Tuesday he hoped to return to practice as soon as next week after a nearly six-week absence caused by the mental strain of being a highly acclaimed freshman and another personal matter he declined to discuss.

“Being the top [high school] linebacker in the nation, I didn’t know how to cope with it,” Juarez said in a telephone interview. “Trying to make everyone happy but not myself, there was too much pressure. It was too much for me.

“It was me as a person just mentally not there.”

Juarez, a 6-foot-2, 250-pounder, said Bruins Coach Jim Mora had arranged for a psychiatrist to help the former North Torrance High standout deal with his issues. He has not practiced since the fourth day of training camp last month but said he would start fall quarter classes on schedule Thursday before rejoining the team.

Juarez said talking about his problems has helped him find the inner strength needed to return.

“If it wasn’t for that, I don’t think I would be able to come back at all,” he said, adding that he expected the personal matter to be resolved at some point. “I’ve kind of learned that you have to be mentally strong to do anything, really. If you’re not mentally strong or mentally tough, you can’t do much and are just going through the motions.”

Juarez said his fellow freshmen were the only teammates fully informed about his issues. UCLA coaches are not allowed to discuss the situation with players because of privacy laws.

The lack of knowledge among older players appeared to cause some tension Monday when senior defensive end Takkarist McKinley questioned Juarez’s absence on Twitter in a since-deleted tweet, prompting Juarez to fire back that his teammate should “quit acting like a female & go on about your business.”

McKinley later tweeted that “the funny thing is he wouldn’t say [expletive] to my face” before deleting that message as well.

Mora said he did not address the Twitter flap with his players or think it was a distraction going into the Bruins’ game against No. 7 Stanford on Saturday at the Rose Bowl.

“It’s a non-issue to us,” Mora said. “It doesn’t matter. Paid no attention to it.”

Juarez said he understood the frustration of McKinley and the older players.

“They don’t know what’s going on,” Juarez said. “It is what it is, it happens, but I don’t want fans or reporters to make it a big deal. It’s just a tweet. [McKinley] is still a teammate.”

The upside to his absence, Juarez said, was that he expected to return better prepared to deal with future challenges.

“Really, I’m coming back fully committed and stronger, no more other stuff going on,” Juarez said. “I just look forward to being more positive about everything. I’ll be happy to be back playing football and do something I’ve been doing my whole life and not being away from it anymore.”

“I’ve learned a lot through this experience. I’m kind of glad I went through it now rather than later when it was something more important.”