One of the most highly-touted players in the Class of 2013 could have his true freshman season shortened extensively by a lingering health issue, Kevin Sumlin acknowledged Tuesday night.
Ricky Seals-Jones played in A&M’s season opener against Rice, but sat against Sam Houston State because of an issue in his knee. He then saw little action in the loss to Alabama, sparking speculation that the injury could be worse than what was being let on by the team.
On his radio show last night, Sumlin allowed that a medical redshirt for the wide receiver is part of an “ongoing discussion” between the coaching staff and school medical personnel.
"[H]is knee is kind of bothering him, and we’re going to do what’s best for him,” the head coach said by way of Brent Zwerneman of the San Antonio Express-News. “He’s injured and he tried to go a little bit on Saturday and it’s still not right. So we’re looking at it from a medical standpoint ... he’s either going to play up to a certain point in time, which is now, or he gets a medical redshirt. ...
“We’re doing everything that’s right for him because he is a special talent. For him to lose a year if something is not correct and he’s not comfortable ... we’re not going to do that.”
According to NCAA bylaws, a student-athlete must play in no more than 20 percent of his team’s scheduled games -- in the case of Seals-Jones, that would be three games as the NCAA rounds up (12 x .2 = 2.4) -- in order to qualify for a medical redshirt. As the receiver has played in less than two games, he would still fall well within the range of an allowable medical redshirt.
Jones was expected to the Aggies’ revamped receiving corps immediately, so his loss would be a substantial one. Rivals.com had the Sealy, Tex., product as a four-star recruit, rated as the No. 2 wide receiver in the country and the No. 40 player at any position.
In the opener, Jones flashed his much talked-about skillset as, on his third touch at this level, he took a pass 71 yards for a touchdown against Rice. He had three catches for 84 yards in that game; those are his only catches this season.