Mark Gronowski injury update: Kirk Ferentz provides latest on rehab process

Iowa starting quarterback Mark Gronowski went down with a knee injury in a game against Indiana a week and a half ago. He has now been medically cleared to return to practice, coach Kirk Ferentz told reporters.

The talented quarterback has had an up-and-down campaign so far, but the Hawkeyes would love to get him back. Ferentz opened up on that possibility.

“He just basically practiced. We didn’t run any quarterback runs with him or anything like that,” the head coach said. “But no he just had a normal day. I don’t know if his car’s out there right now, but I see it out there a lot. At least I have the last nine days. We’re not making him pay taxes or anything like that, but he’s in the building an awful lot. He’s just wearing out the training staff.”

So how is the knee doing? Pretty well for now, though there’s no guarantee Mark Gronowski won’t hit setbacks in the next couple days.

“Testing came back positive, that was the most important thing,” Ferentz said. “Got that Monday I guess it would have been. So that was the start and then basically it’s just what he can do and how fast he can progress. I know he’s doing every bit he can from that standpoint. And the medical staff’s doing a great job working with him. Pleasantly surprised, quite frankly. Not saying I wasn’t going to be optimistic, but you’re always concerned when a guy has an injury.

“I guess the best way to state it is, yeah, the testing was positive so now it’s a matter of what can he do effectively and efficiently. And confidently, that’s the other.”

Ferentz would go into further detail on Mark Gronowski’s knee during his press conference. He quite humorously noted he’s not a doctor before diving into some of the particulars.

“Any time I talk about medical stuff I always qualify that I’m not a doctor,” Ferentz said. “Look at my resume or transcript, I guess, I stayed the hell away from chemistry, physics, all those things. But I’ve sat in medical meetings for a long time right now.

“Again, just a poor man’s version it was like a sprain I guess more than anything else. It was a stable joint, which is first and foremost. Then the testing all kind of has to confirm things. So it’s a matter of what he can do effectively. And I think I just threw in that word confidence, that’s going to be the No. 1 conversation at the end of the week, ‘Do you feel confident that you can go out there and play effectively and not be thinking about it, not try to protect yourself,’ that kind of deal. Because that doesn’t do anybody any good.

“I think that’s what the week’s for right now, let’s work through it and see what it looks like. Looked like he was fine today, but who knows? Tomorrow he may be sore, he may be swollen. We don’t know, so we’ll just take it a day at a time and see what it looks like. He’s got to feel good, and then obviously there’s got to be medical clearance. Yeah, none of this would have happened without the medical clearance.”

So far this season Mark Gronowski has gone 68-of-106 passing for 636 yards and three touchdowns. He has thrown two interceptions.