By Adam Gibson | Sports Writer
Baylor sophomore quarterback Charlie Brewer suffered a back injury during Baylor’s 55-27 season-opening win over ACU on Saturday, but “he should be healthy,” according to head football coach Matt Rhule.
During the game, Rhule rotated quarterbacks between Brewer and North Carolina graduate transfer Jalan McClendon. Brewer suffered a back injury that put him out of play for the second half, but Rhule wanted to make it clear that he is most likely ready to go and since it was the first game of the season, it was best to take him out.
In the time that he played against ACU, Brewer went 8 of 15 for passing 138 yards with one interception. He also had one rushing attempt in which he gained 15 yards.
Rhule said when Brewer was injured, he took him out just to be safe because the team doctors weren’t certain he was ready to go back into the game.
“He was just hit. He ran an option play and got hit,” Rhule said. “I don’t think he was 100 percent sure when it was, and I think because of where it was, he wanted to go back in the game. But they took his helmet from him. He probably was OK, but the doctors wanted to make sure that he got checked out.”
After swapping quarterbacks in the first game and now going into the second week of the season, Rhule said if the team was playing in a game today, he would have to see how Brewer was feeling after his back injury before playing him.
Rhule waited until Saturday night to announce which quarterback would be starting since he wanted both quarterbacks to get some playing time. In his first game for Baylor, McClendon made quite the debut, completing 10 of his 13 passing attempts for 173 yards and two touchdowns, as well as two rushes for seven yards.
McClendon said he knows to be ready to take over, especially after Brewer suffered an injury.
“It just makes you prepare,” McClendon said. “You never know when you’re going to go in, so when you do go in, just take advantage of it and do your job.”
When it comes to the rest of the season, Rhule said he would just have to take it one game at a time to decide which quarterback he would play. After this first game and Brewer’s injury, Rhule also said he wants to make sure both quarterbacks are ready to take over and make plays when they are called upon.
“If I would’ve said, ‘Hey, I’m just going to play one,’ and then Charlie would’ve got banged up and we would’ve had to put Jalan in … I don’t want any of our guys to get hurt, but the good thing is, at least Jalan had been in the game and in the flow of the game,” Rhule said. “There’s going to come a point this year where someone’s going to have to go in and play, and I want to make sure they’re all ready. I’ll take it one day at a time; the quarterbacks will take it one day at a time.”
The next time Brewer and the Bears take the field, they will face UTSA at 6 p.m. Saturday in San Antonio.
