Auburn quarterback Zach Calzada to have shoulder surgery, apply for medical redshirt
The Auburn quarterback room just got thinner for 2022 as transfer Zach Calzada will be out for the remainder of the season due to shoulder surgery. Auburn Live’s Justin Hokanson first reported the news.
The surgery will on Calzada’s non-throwing shoulder and he will apply for a medical redshirt. If granted, Calzada will have three years of eligibility remaining after this season.
Calzada transferred to Auburn from Texas A&M this offseason but had been relegated as the third option for the Tigers heading into the season behind TJ Finley and Oregon transfer Robby Ashford.
But Finley has recently been sidelined with a shoulder injury after leaving the Week 3 game against Penn State. Finley’s father later added that injury occurred the week prior, against San Jose State.
According to the report from Hokanson, Finley is expected to miss multiple weeks. Ashford is expected to get the start for Auburn this Saturday against Missouri with true freshman Holden Geriner.
The surgery Calzada is slated to have is a not-uncommon follow up procedure to the labrum repair he had done following last season at Texas A&M. He will keep working with the Auburn scout team until the surgery, according to the report from Hokanson.
TJ Finley’s dad had more to say about how Auburn handled his son’s shoulder injury
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.”