As it turns, the death of Jordan Webb‘s 2013 season may have been greatly exaggerated. Maybe.
In mid-April, Colorado announced that the quarterback would miss the 2013 season due to a torn ACL. Webb’s progress in rehab, however, has gone better than expected.
So much better, in fact, that head coach Mike MacIntyre is hopeful Webb will be back on the field by October, less than six months after suffering the injury.
“They’re working on him hard to get back as quick as he can get back and we’re shooting for him to hopefully be back some time in September and see how that goes for him,” MacIntyre said during Yahoo! Sports radio interview, by way of the Boulder Daily Camera. “But it’s definitely a step back. He’s not going to be able to get a sixth year the way everything worked out. So he’s got to push and try to get back and be able to help some this year.”
CU head trainer Miguel Rueda confirmed Macintyre’s optimism to the Denver Post.
“He had a great outcome with his surgery with Dr. (Eric) McCarty,” Rueda said. “A lot can happen between now and the first month of the season. We’re not ruling anything out. We’re comfortable with the progress he’s made.”
Webb, who transferred to the Buffs from Kansas, started the first nine games of the 2012 season before getting yanked in favor of Nick Hirschman, who himself transferred out of CU shortly after Webb’s injury. Connor Wood, the Texas transfer who started one game last season, sits alone at the top of the Buffs’ depth chart following Hirschman’s departure.
If Webb were not to come back this season, it would end his collegiate career as MacIntyre stated, per the Post, that the player would not be getting a sixth season of eligibility from the NCAA. Shortly after Webb’s injury, the school began the process of appealing for an additional season of eligibility.