A little over two weeks ago, Texas A&M lost starting quarterback Trevor Knight to a shoulder injury against Mississippi State. His backup, junior Jake Hubenak, entered the game and then started each of the past two weeks.

It turns out Knight was not the only passer with a shoulder injury though. In his weekly press conference, A&M offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone shared that Hubenak has been battling one as well.

“I’m totally impressed and I thank Jake for Saturday’s performance,” Mazzone said of the A&M win over UTSA. “Like a lot of college athletes, especially this time of year…they deal with injuries as a contact sport.

“In the Ole Miss game, Jake had suffered an injury on his throwing shoulder. He finishes out that game and then he comes the next week, before the next game, and basically, we practiced a whole week and he does not throw a football. Basically, the first football he threw was Saturday in pregame because of the injury.”

Mazzone praised the fact that Hubenak was willing to play through the pain.

“The toughness and the grit – basically having pain every time he threw the ball – I think it’s a tribute to the kid and how tough he was and him being a true Aggie,” Mazzone said. “He knew it was important. We had to have him play.”

The question now is how healthy Hubenak will be for the game against LSU on Thursday.

“He’s day-to-day working hard every day to get his shoulder back in useable shape,” Mazzone said.

In the event he is not able to go or aggravates the injury further on Thursday, A&M has true freshman Nick Starkel, who the Aggies are planning to redshirt, and senior Conner McQueen, a former walk-on, waiting in the wings.

“We’ve got Nick and we’ve got Conner,” Mazzone said. “We’ve been repping both of those guys in practice. It’s kind of now like quarterback by committee.”

Earlier in the day, Knight said there was a chance he could return for the game if he was cleared by doctors. He said, if he is cleared, he wants to play. Mazzone seemed to downplay the possibility, though.

“He’s been saying that for three weeks,” Mazzone said, laughing.

A&M and LSU will play on Thu. at 6:30 p.m. at Kyle Field. The game will air nationally on ESPN.



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