Shedeur Sanders heads to locker room with injury vs. Washington State, ruled out for second half

After Shedeur Sanders took his fourth sack of the first quarter of Colorado’s game against Washington State, he appeared slow to get up. He ended up fumbling on the play and the Cougars took it back for a scoop-and-score, meaning the Buffaloes offense had to get right back on the field.

When they did, Sanders wasn’t with them. Instead, it was Ryan Staub at quarterback as Sanders threw passes on the sideline without his helmet. He wound up coming back in the game after the next defensive position, but after a couple more drives, headed the locker room in the second quarter.

After he threw a pass on the sideline, Shedeur Sanders turned to his dad, Deion Sanders, and pointed to his arm at one point as if to indicate an injury. At the time, he had 29 passing yards on 3-of-3 passing as Wazzu took an early 14-0 lead.

Sanders then ended up going back to the locker room for treatment and, when Colorado returned for the second half, was seen in street clothes as he was ruled out for the remainder of the game.

“I talked to Coach Prime heading into the half and he was concerned for his quarterback, who was getting beat up all first half long,” FS1 sideline reporter Josh Sims said out of halftime. “He said first of all, that arm, he was having trouble gripping the ball and then, the ankle, as well. We saw him go back into the locker room early, did not come back out.”

Sanders has taken more sacks than any other quarterback in college football this year. He entered Friday night’s matchup with 48 sacks taken through Colorado’s first 10 games, and the Buffaloes’ 49 sacks allowed through that span is the second-most in the FBS behind Old Dominion.

It hasn’t been easy going so far, yet Sanders still ranks fourth in the nation with 314.4 passing yards per game entering Week 11. Deion Sanders said he’s proud of Shedeur for handling the offensive line’s struggles and still make big plays.

“Shedeur, I’ve seen him in every possible situation that he could possibly be in and I know how he’s affected,” Sanders said. “He’s hurting a little right now. He don’t even like needles, he don’t believe in them, but he had to get a shot. He had to get a shot to numb certain areas so he could play.”