Colorado Quarterback Shedeur Sanders seems to have found an effective solution to his pain and mobility problems in recent weeks.
After his teammates on the offensive line couldn’t block well enough to keep him upright, Sanders got good blocking elsewhere – a painkiller injection off the field.
He received such injections at least two games in a row, according to his head coach and father, Deion Sanders.
And it worked almost like a miracle drug, judging by its performance before and after receiving these injections. But it’s obviously not an advisable long-term answer, although it could be a tempting tool to use in the final three games of the regular season starting Saturday in the home finale against Arizona ( 6-3).
“Of course he was hurt. Do you think he walks like me for nothing? said Deion Sanders, who walks with a limp resulting from recent surgical operations. ” He is hurt. He is hurt. Would have to check with the coaches on that, but he’s hurting. But everything will be fine… He will be fine on Saturday.
The stakes remain high for him and Colorado (4-5). The Buffaloes need two more wins to become eligible for a playoff bowl game. Additional damage to Shedeur’s body could also hurt his NFL draft.
Meanwhile, Shedeur Sanders produced a statistical performance for the ages measured by success against physical blows. Although he is the most sacked quarterback in major college football (45 times), he ranks second nationally in passing yards per game (320.2) and 11th in completion percentage (70 .1%).
Did painkillers help Shedeur Sanders?
Deion Sanders did not say what type of painkillers his son took, only that he received an injection at halftime of a 28-16 loss at UCLA on Oct. 28 “to block out part of pain”. Last week, at a 26-19 loss to Oregon StateDeion Sanders also said Shedeur received an injection in the team’s locker room near the end of the third quarter “so he could finish.”
“He doesn’t even like needles…but he had to get the shot,” Deion Sanders said Thursday on the Colorado Football Coaches Show. “And he had to get a shot to numb some areas so he could play.”
Shedeur Sanders then returned for the fourth quarter, when he came alive and completed 9 of 14 passes for 179 yards and two touchdowns on his team’s final two drives.
Before that, in the first three quarters, he had completed 15 of 25 passes for just 66 yards and no touchdowns. Deion Sanders said Thursday that Shedeur suffered an ankle injury that affected his footwork on deep passes, causing them to fall short.
“I left, you know, because I had a lot of pain in my body,” Shedeur Sanders said afterward. Then he said he “just got angry.”
“When I get angry, you know, it’s just a different me.”
It was the same in the UCLA game. Before the halftime injection, with Colorado leading 7-6, he was sacked five times while completing 15 of 26 passes for 98 yards and no touchdowns or interceptions. After the injection, he completed 12 of 17 passes for 119 yards and a touchdown.
In the two games combined after injections, he has a passing efficiency rating of 180.4, which would rank him fourth nationally in the NCAA rankings. In contrast, in the same two games before the painkiller injections, he had an efficiency rating of 85.8, which would be too low to be included in the top 110.
“Nobody wants to shoot until you have to,” Darrell Colbert, Shedeur Sanders’ private quarterback coach, told USA TODAY Sports. “That’s the type of player he is, going in, shooting, just to make sure he can finish the game with his teammates. It just shows the type of leader he is and the type of quarterback, because a lot of people wouldn’t do that.
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How long can this trend continue?
Shedeur was not available to the media this week to discuss this subject. And it’s unclear how many times this season he’s resorted to painkiller injections, if any. But the use of painkillers in professional and college football was controversial and carries risks associated with excessive use, including the fact that they effectively disable the body’s alert system for health problems and can lead to further injury.
Just ask Matt McChesney, a former Colorado and NFL lineman.
“I don’t know how many painkillers I took, but it’s a lot,” McChesney told USA TODAY Sports. “I don’t know how many photos I’ve taken in my life, but it’s a lot. I have to go down the side stairs. I have a five level cage fusion in my back and I can’t lift my left shoulder. I’m only 42 and I’m beat (expletive). And this kid (Shedeur) takes a beating.
“I was playing. I was an offensive and defensive lineman. I very rarely got hit. I was always hitting someone. They were getting hit, and absorbing hits is more catastrophic than delivering them and then taking them residues.”
McChesney followed the Buffs closely and became concerned. Shedeur Sanders is Colorado’s best quarterback since Kordell Stewart in 1994. He will also likely be the first Colorado quarterback selected in the NFL draft since Koy Detmer was taken in the seventh round in 1997. On the other hand, Shedeur Sanders could be a first-round pick, either in 2024 or in 2025, depending on duration. he wants to stay at university.
“I think it’s extremely fixable,” McChesney said. “If they don’t fix it, you’re sacrificing a guy in Shedeur Sanders who is really, really special and tough as nails (expletive) too. At some point, the offensive line and defensive line have to be tougher than the quarterback, and right now the quarterback is the toughest guy in the room.
What can be done to protect Shedeur Sanders?
McChesney said Shedeur is an NFL-level quarterback who would benefit from a more traditional pro-style system instead of a college broadcast system in Colorado that has become predictable due to its over-reliance on non-playing Shedeur credible race. For example, why not two tight ends and a fullback to help block Shedeur, instead of a tight end sometimes? And why not sometimes put Shedeur in the center instead of the shotgun to make it harder for the opposing team to know what’s coming?
Otherwise, McChesney said, Colorado is “trying to rely on five guys (on the offensive line) who can’t block the other five.”
However, help could be on the way. Florida high school prospect Jordan Seaton headed to Colorado last week as the nation’s No. 1 offensive recruit, according to the 247Sports composite rankings.
In the meantime, Shedeur Sanders still has three games to play this year. Deion Sanders said Tuesday that his son’s body was “extremely sore” and he was doing some things he normally didn’t do to prepare for the next game. He didn’t say what it was.
But there’s also something ironic about the beating Shedeur has taken this season. Even if it is not good for his health, his performance still shows that he can play in the NFL, especially for bad teams with high draft picks.
“The ability for him to show toughness and be that guy, that’s what they’re looking for,” McChesney said. ” Let’s be realistic. This is absolutely and unequivocally what they are looking for at the next level.
Follow journalist Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: [email protected]
