The Oklahoma Sooners are dealing with an injury to their star quarterback John Mateer.
On Tuesday, Sooners head coach Brent Venables announced that Mateer will undergo hand surgery. The injury reportedly occurred during Oklahoma’s 24-17 win over Auburn last Saturday. Mateer threw for 1,215 yards with six touchdowns and three interceptions through the Sooners’ first four games.
Here’s the latest on Mateer’s injury, the Sooners’ quarterback situation, and more.
What happened to John Mateer?
Mateer suffered an apparent hand injury last week against Auburn. On Tuesday, Oklahoma announced in an official release that Mateer will undergo surgery on his hand on Wednsday. Here’s more via the official release:
University of Oklahoma head football coach Brent Venables announced Tuesday that quarterback John Mateer will undergo surgery Wednesday to address a right-hand injury he sustained in Saturday’s win over Auburn.
Venables said the expectation is that Mateer will return to action sometime this season.
“After consulting with medical experts, it became clear that surgery is the best option for John and his short- and long-term future,” said Venables. “He’s extremely disappointed he will miss some game action but is eager to correct the issue and move forward. As he is with everything, we know he will be aggressive with his rehabilitation and work to return to the field as quickly as possible.”
This is a huge blow both to Oklahoma and Mateer, who emerged as the early-season Heisman frontrunner in recent weeks. Mateer transferred from Washington State this offseason.
How long will John Meteer be out?
It’s unclear how exactly long Mateer would be out, but it would be safe to assume it will be at least a number weeks, and perhaps longer. The release stated that Mateer will return to the field “sometime this season.”
Who is Oklahoma’s backup QB?
In the release, Venables added that Oklahoma’ new starting quarterback will be his backup, Michael Hawkins, Jr. Hawkins is a sophomore who has completed just one pass this season behind Mateer.
This is a breaking news story that will be updated.
