Looking to clear the air as his son prepares for workouts in front of NFL Scouts and coaches, Nebraska quarterback Taylor Martinez‘s father attempted to set the record straight about his son’s injury status from the 2013 season. Martinez suffered a plantar plate tear of the second metatarsal phalangeal joint, which in English translates to a torn ligament in his foot. According to Casey Martinez,s Taylor’s father, the injury was suffered in Nebraska’s first game of the season against Wyoming and aggravated the following week in a game against Southern Mississippi. Nebraska, according to Casey Martinez, never fully diagnosed the foot injury, but he is not accusing the school of negligence either.
“I think Taylor wanted to get back and play as badly as anyone,” Casey Martinez said in a report by ESPN.com. “They wanted him to play and expected to contend for a Big Ten championship.”
Martinez sat out six weeks of the regular season to focus on his foot injury and when he was set to return to the field his father agreed with the decision of the Nebraska coaching staff. He returned against Minnesota but struggled to play the way he was capable of doing when healthy. It was the final game of Martinez’s career. At the end of the season Martinez and his family took time to get a professional opinion form another source before setting any sights on the NFL. That led Martinez to Dr. Mark Quist of Carolina Foot and Ankle, who diagnosed Martinez with the foot injury.
Nebraska had been relatively silent on the status of Martinez for much of the season, but that was not necessarily a Martinez-specific decision. Many schools protect their players from injury news in the spotlight, even if it becomes a bit of a distraction. Head coach Bo Pelini is also not one to be too open with the media when he does not have to. From the sound of it, there is no reason to suspect Nebraska was handling Martinez’s injury in any alarming way.
Martinez is working out and training for upcoming workouts in front of NFL scouts. Nebraska’s pro day is scheduled for March 6. Martinez is hoping to be at full strength by then.