Mississippi State reveals quarterback 'not on the team'

Mississippi State head coach Mike Leach revealed on Monday that one of their quarterbacks is not on the team, discussing the injury Will Rogers suffered. As Mississippi State looks to who will replace the injured Rogers if he cannot play, Leach revealed that Jack Abraham is not on the team currently.

Mississippi State quarterback problems

“Mississippi State head coach Mike Leach says quarterback Jack Abraham is ‘not on the team right now,'” reported Sports Illustrated’s Crissy Froyd.

The news came after Rogers suffered a reported AC joint sprain in his right shoulder against Alabama, as reported by The Clarion Ledger on Monday. At the time, Mississippi State had not officially announced the injury Rogers sustained. The Clarion Ledger noted in their report that the source of their information had requested anonymity.

Rogers was visibly injured during the game however, grasping at his shoulder in pain several times throughout the game. The injury appeared to occur late in the first quarter on a sack taken by Rogers. He would leave the field grabbing at his shoulder before going to the injury tent. Rogers completed the game despite the injury, and was sacked seven times by Alabama’s defense.

With the status of Rogers up in the air for their next game against Vanderbilt on Saturday, the Bulldogs will need to ensure they have a backup ready to go if needed. The initial candidate would be Jack Abraham who competed with Rogers before the season for the starting job.

However, that doesn’t appear to be an option as Leach detailed, as Abraham is not currently on the team. The circumstances of his departure are not known at this time, but if Abraham is unavailable the Bulldogs may have a serious decision to make at backup.

Nick Saban praising Mike Leach

Last week, the Mississippi State Bulldogs hosted the No. 5 Alabama Crimson Tide, and as Nick Saban’s team came off a heartbreaking loss to Texas A&M on a game-winning field goal.

Saban on last week’s SEC Coaches’ Teleconference praised Mississippi State ahead of their game, explaining how they’ve improved under Leach’s leadership.

“I think because they’ve had more time in [Mike Leach’s Air Raid] system, all of their players seem to be more comfortable and confident in playing the system,” Saban said. “I think the quarterback is playing really, really well for them, and obviously the experience of these games, to play in some last year, being the starter this year, has really helped him improve. I think they have an offensive line that’s improved, they’ve got a couple new skill players that play that they didn’t have much of last year. So, and then the other players that they do have back [from last season], are very effective players in what they do. So, I think there’s a lot of things that contribute to the way they’re playing on offense right now, which is really, really good.”

On3’s Simon Gibbs contributed to this article.