Father clarifies TJ Finley's shoulder injury, hasn't ruled out seeking second opinion

TJ Finley left Auburn‘s showdown with Penn State with a shoulder injury, and now his status moving forward has come into question.

With plenty of questions to be answered, David Finley — the Tigers quarterback’s father — joined the Locked On Auburn Podcast to try to provide some answers. While he isn’t claiming to be a medical professional, he added some insight into the situation, including that his son was so banged up going into the Nittany Lions showdown that he needed help getting dressed.

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“Of course I’m not a doctor, and I’m not up there with him, but before we left Sunday, he was banged up pretty bad. He needed help putting his shirt on, and he had to eat with his left hand,” stated David Finley. “So I don’t know if people know that his left shoulder was injured going into this game. He injured that in the San Jose State game.

“So he was playing already with one injured shoulder.”

Additionally, it wasn’t a secret to people in the know, as David Finley stated his son was receiving treatment for his injured shoulder.

“He was getting treatment for it. But I think I know what that one might be, it might be something to do with the labrum or whatever,” explained the Auburn quarterback’s father. “TJ’s a tough kid.”

While the signal caller has received x-rays and is being checked out by team doctors, David Finley won’t be too sure until the inflammation goes down in his son’s shoulder. According to the TJ Finley’s father, a second opinion isn’t out of the question moving forward.

“I would like to know, because I really would hate for it to be some structural damage to his shoulder. It really doesn’t seem like that, but you always want to make sure,” said David Finley. “I don’t know if it’s going to be a week or two or three, I don’t know but like I said, I’m not the team doctor but I am his father. If I have to, I will get a second opinion to make sure. It’s based on how he feels.

“If he feels like it’s still hurting or it’s still whatever, you need to know it it’s structural damage. I always say, if it’s hurt, let’s go. If you’re injured, I understand.”

Thus far in 2022, TJ Finley has passed for 431 yards, one touchdown and four interceptions in three games. Additionally, he’s carried the football 16 times, amassing 40 rushing yards and a touchdown, as well.

Evidently, David Finley isn’t satisfied with the way Auburn has handled his son’s playing time this season, as he explained his gripes further on the podcast. Criticizing the Tigers for almost splitting the playing time between his son and backup quarterback Robby Ashford, David Finley believes it’s impossible for any quarterback to get in a groove that way.

Nevertheless, Auburn will look to rebound after a tough loss to Penn State with a victory over Missouri on Saturday. However, their schedule tightens up afterwards, with showdowns against LSU, Georgia and Ole Miss on the horizon. 

Hopefully TJ Finley can get healthy enough to start for Auburn in those games, and David Finley can begin to see some of the changes he would like to see in the Tigers offense.