The good news for undefeated (?) Minnesota is that its starting quarterback didn’t suffer a season-ending injury in the win over Western Michigan.
The bad news? It’s unclear when MarQueis Gray will return to the playing field.
What’s known is that an MRI revealed neither broken bones nor structural damage in Gray’s left knee. The diagnosis is that Gray suffered a high-ankle sprain of undetermined severity.
Based on the initial prognosis, it appears Gray could be out for upwards of a month. Or he could be back after missing just a week. Such are the vagaries of this type of injury.
“High ankle sprains are usually a month,” Gopher head coach Jerry Kill said. “Now, how bad the sprain is, is (the question). There are different degrees. I don’t think anybody knows the degree (yet). We’ll see if he’s swelled up, how he moves on Monday.”
Kill said that the coaching staff will get Max Shortell, who replaced Gray following the second-quarter injury, “ready to go” for this weekend’s home game against Syracuse.
After replacing Gray, Shortell completed 10-of-17 passes for 188 yards, three touchdowns and one interception.