On Wednesday, Billy Liucci confirmed that quarterback Conner Weigman will miss the remainder of the 2023 season due to a broken bone in his foot. Liucci joined TexAgs Radio to discuss the injury and what this means for the Maroon & White moving forward.
Key notes from Billy Liucci
- It will be three to 3.5 months on a return for Conner Weigman, which will obviously take you past the end of the season. It's really unfortunate for Weigman, first and foremost. Think of the young quarterback playing as well as he was, living up to the five-star hype. He loves football and competing so much, and he gave up baseball to do so. He was chasing a dream. That's a tough, tough blow for any competitor. Knowing Weigman, it really sucks for him.
- Before everyone starts going down every rabbit hole of quarterback injuries and what it means, think about Weigman. Wish him well. Let him know you're behind him. Then think about Max Johnson. A&M has the best QB1-QB2 combination in the conference. Johnson is a guy who has started a lot of games in this conference, and Weigman will be there to greet him and support him. You have this situation for a reason because injuries at that position are far too common.
- This is not the worst-case scenario in terms of injury, but for this season, it is. It should not be a long-lasting thing for Weigman, but it's the toughest of breaks for any team to lose their quarterback.
- I've seen people complain about Jimbo Fisher and his comments on Monday. Those people don't understand the process or the extent of the testing. There was an X-ray on Saturday. The initial feedback was positive, but it was still going to be a lengthy absence. Any kind of sprain, which is what it was thought to be, deals with an injury to the ligament. It would have been seven weeks at a minimum. To have him back in short order was far-fetched to begin with. It wasn't until after the press conference that I started thinking it was not as simple as a sprain. Now that there was a break, they had to test further again, which they probably did yesterday.
- The Weigmans have a lot of great friends who are Aggies. I was getting DMs. Ryan Brauninger was getting DMs. The family is in a close-knit community, so they weren't keeping it top secret.
- What I haven't confirmed is whether or not Weigman will need surgery. That would probably put a screw in there, and that's what would set it back to where there is no chance of a return in time. He was having a tough time putting weight on that foot, and you can't play football on that. It's a tough break for him and for this football team.
- It's rough-and-tumble in this league.
- I want to say this, too: First of all, now A&M is one hit, sprain, twist or whatever to Johnson being in a really bad situation. You have Marcel Reed, who is promising. You have Jaylen Henderson, who has played some. It's great to have four, but they had two proven options. Now, they have one proven option. They are in a precarious situation now. It was bad enough when you thought it would be precarious for weeks, but now it's precarious for the rest of the year.
- It's remarkable how often this has happened to Texas A&M, but it's the SEC. You can go through this league year after year where this has happened to so many teams. I cannot count the number of times A&M has played with or against a backup quarterback.
- I don't think A&M has finished the regular season with the same quarterback that they've started with, save the Kellen Mond era, which makes you appreciate his durability. Other than that, it hasn't happened since Johnny Manziel.
- Weigman was hit on a play where a blitz was not picked up, but it's the whole deal. This is an issue that is over multiple coaches in a 10-year period in this conference. It highlights why quarterback recruiting is so important and how coaches who can work the portal the way it needs to be worked are so impressive. It's a wild game that you're playing right now when it comes to quarterback recruiting, but it can save jobs and save seasons.
- Thank God they've got Max Johnson. We said before that he was the best backup QB in the SEC, and there is no doubt about that. He's the most proven, and he could probably start for half of the teams in this league at this point.
- I'm sure Fisher would have loved to push the press conference back to better answer the questions, but I don't think it would be as significant as this. The initial returns were promising. Something showed up that was a concern, and there was a follow-up. There were some doctors on the board talking about that particular bone in the foot/ankle. They were spot on in what they were talking about. If it requires a screw to be put in through surgery, it extends the recovery even further.
- I watched Weigman walk off the field, and if you watch enough football, you don't have to be a doctor to know it wasn't going to be a short-term injury. I was hoping, at best, that he would be back by South Carolina. I can, unfortunately, compare how Weigman walked off the field to Haynes King and Nick Starkel. When you saw that, all you could be was hopeful. South Carolina would have been five full weeks, but even then, you have to practice in four weeks to play in five. Even then, that was a little optimistic. They went through more imaging after the swelling went down, and they saw what they didn't want to see.
- Let me say this about it being an injury away from it being tough to win SEC games. That is tough and true. It's tough to lose a rising star. There is also a world where Johnson stays healthy, and A&M has a damn good quarterback for the rest of the season.
- Look at the rest of the league. What happens if Mississippi State loses Will Rogers? What happens if Arkansas loses KJ Jefferson in the first quarter on Saturday? What happens if Alabama loses Jalen Milroe? What happens if South Carolina loses Spencer Rattler? None of those four teams would have a better situation than A&M does with Johnson. Ole Miss with Spencer Sanders and LSU with Garrett Nussmeier might be OK. All of those quarterbacks are one play away from being injured. A&M is going to go into battle with a guy that would start at half the schools in this league, so you can't play the game of worrying about it. I'm not wishing season-ending injuries on any of those guys, but if one of them rolls an ankle, they're losing to Texas A&M on that day.
- After Johnson, A&M is in a tough situation, and that's not a knock on Henderson or Reed. It's just the reality of experience in this league. It's the same with Joe Milton at Tennessee, who has a five-star true freshman behind him without a snap of experience. If Milton rolled an ankle, I'd take Johnson and A&M over a five-star with no experience.
- As Johnson said, he never thought about transferring. If you're running a program, keeping him was probably your biggest concern all offseason. You could not lose either of those quarterbacks to the transfer portal. Credit both of them for sticking around. Johnson was one of the most important keeps. The portal is about guys you kept. What nobody talked about was the importance of Johnson not leaving, and to his credit, he never thought about it. Still, that possibility exists when a guy isn't named QB1.
- A&M had a great backup, and now they've got a starting quarterback who has started as many games as any in the SEC, along with Jayden Daniels, Rogers and Jefferson. Johnson might have started the third-most games in the SEC of current quarterbacks. Your starting quarterback is now one of the most experienced signal-callers in this league. Experience is great, but it doesn't move the needle as much as production. Johnson has beaten Auburn twice. He beat Florida in the shoe-throwing game when he was at LSU. He lost a final-possession game in Tuscaloosa. He has beaten Arkansas at Jerry World. He beat Miami last year. He beat Ole Miss in a game where he threw for 350-plus yards. He has won in Starkville. Johnson is exactly the guy you want in this situation.
- I've heard people complain that it's the offensive line. On the particular play? Yes. It was a complete whiff of a block, but quarterback injuries go even further in A&M's history. We've had injuries to quarterbacks running down the field, in the pocket and hands hitting helmets. In this league, every year, you're going to see some degree of carnage at the quarterback position. It is what it is, and you're going to deal with it. It does make you appreciate you guys like Mond, who can stay durable.
- The best-case scenario is Johnson lights it up against Arkansas, and the Aggies win. Imagine what that does for the fan base's morale. The players and coaches believe in Johnson but think about what it does for the Alabama game.
- Here's what teams are going to do with Johnson: I think they'll blitz him even more. I think they were scared to blitz Weigman because he could elude pressure and get rid of the ball so quickly. Johnson, who might be a better runner, takes off when it's in front of him. If he sees a hole open, he'll take it. Weigman was better at eluding pressure, and he's better than most at that. Teams will blitz Johnson more, which will put more pressure on the offensive line.
- Johnson is exceptional at play-action and throwing the deep ball. I'm excited to see how Bobby Petrino plays to his strengths. He can run and is a pocket-passer. Petrino can coach and scheme around that. Petrino will tailor the offense, plays called and the sequencing toward Johnson's strengths.
- This offensive line better show up on Saturday ready to block, and they better figure out the best way to protect Johnson. Are there guys getting beat in pass protection? If so, get them out of there and change the personnel. Do you need Earnest Crownover to be in there as an extra blocker? Maybe. These are things to consider.
- This is the oldest and most experienced Max Johnson has been. There are a lot of talented weapons around him right now. He might have had more talent around him at LSU, but he's also playing for the best coordinator he has played for. In theory, this should be your best version of Max Johnson. If he has one of those games and the Aggies beat Arkansas, it could change the outlook and hope for the Aggies this season. It would change how the fan base and people perceive the Aggies nationally.
- We've had Jefferson pegged as this Aggie killer, but he is 1-1 against A&M. He got hurt in one of them but came back in the game. In two years, with the great Kendal Briles, I think Jefferson has produced 20 and 21 points in two games against A&M. He could double that in any game, including Saturday, but that's the reality of Jefferson against the Aggies.
- I still think Saturday is going to come down to two things: Keeping Jefferson relatively contained in the pocket and the A&M offensive line playing a good game. If you can give Johnson protection, the offense will score points and move the ball.
