Garrett Greene injury update: Neal Brown updates status ahead of Week 11

On Monday, West Virginia head coach Neal Brown said quarterback Garrett Greene is doubtful to play against Cincinnati on Saturday. Greene left the Mountaineers’ 45-18 loss to Kansas State in Week 8 after suffering an upper-body injury and missed WVU’s 31-26 win over Arizona on Oct. 26.

With Greene sidelined, Nicco Marchiol started at quarterback for the Mountaineers against the Wildcats. In the win over Arizona, Marchiol completed 18-of-his-22 pass attempts for 198 yards and two touchdowns without throwing an interception.

Marchiol also recorded 11 carries for 39 yards. Marchiol fumbled once but West Virginia was able to recover the ball. The win was Marchiol’s first start of the season and Brown couldn’t have been happier with his backup QB’s performance.

“I thought he was really efficient on end of possession downs — third and fourth downs,” Brown said. “We really needed it and that proved to kind of a deciding factor too. But I thought he was calm.

“He’s so much a better player than the last time he started a game… He’s mature, he’s been patient, and he’s gotten better, and I’ve said that a lot… and then he showed that today. He didn’t play very well in the second half of the Kansas State game which was a tough setting for him. But I thought he really stepped today when we needed him and I thought he played really well.”

West Virginia enjoyed a bye last week following its win over Arizona. However, Greene still isn’t back to full strength. Greene has completed 56.8% of his passes this season for 1,352 yards and nine touchdowns while throwing eight interceptions.

With or without Garrett Greene leading the offense, West Virginia will look to finish the season strong and secure a spot in a bowl game. On Saturday, the Mountaineers will square off against Cincinnati at noon ET. The game will air live on FS1.