Kirk Ferentz updates Cade McNamara injury status
The Big Ten Network was in Iowa City on Friday for their annual fall camp visit and it was a good time to get an update on a few topics from head coach Kirk Ferentz.
Dave Revsine from the Big Ten Network sat down with the Iowa’s head coach for an interview that lasted just under eight minutes. Revsine asked the question that is front of mind for most Iowa fans, is there any update on the health of Cade McNamara?
This past Saturday at Iowa’s Kids Day practice, McNamara went down near midfield with a non-contact injury. He went back the huddle, but did not run another play. Then he headed to the locker room with a trainer and a short time later he emerged back on the field without his shoulder pads and helmet, but not limping or wearing an ice pack on his leg.
After practice, Ferentz said it appeared to a soft tissue injury. As we reported on Saturday evening, McNamara sustained a quad strain and an MRI on Monday confirmed that injury.
McNamara was out at practice while the Big Ten Network was there and wearing a sleeve pad on his right quad today. Ferentz gave a pretty optimistic outlook for McNamara and his return to the field.
“Fortunately it’s a tissue issue, so hopefully he will be back sometime next week. I can’t predict that, but we will take it week by week. He will be back. It’s not like he broke his leg or something like that,” Ferentz said.
The answer should be viewed as relatively positive. While the return next week feels open ended, but it certainly doesn’t feel like it will be a long term issue.
On another front, Iowa has a couple of players returning to practice, while another one remains sidelined. First the tougher news is Joe Labas remains out with a soft tissue injury that was sustained last month. At media day, Ferentz was hopeful that Labas would be back this week.
Positive news for the Hawkeyes is they have had Cooper DeJean and Noah Shannon back in uniform. DeJean was dealing with a minor muscle issue and if this past Saturday were an actual game, he would have been in uniform. Meanwhile, Shannon has been working his way back from off-season shoulder surgery and is finally back on the field.
“It was a long road for him,” Ferentz said. “Healthwise the good news is he is back working now. This was his first week back. He had a pretty serious shoulder issue and has worked through that.”
However, that doesn’t mean that Shannon will be on the field in uniform when the season opens on September 2nd. He is still involved in the sports gambling investigation. It is worth noting that Shannon broke no laws, but he did break NCAA rules and regulations.
“On the gambling issue, he participated in that. One thing I want to bring up for clarity is he did nothing illegal. He broke an NCAA rule and I am not going to minimize that.”
