NC State reveals quarterback Devin Leary to undergo surgery, out for season
Prior to the 2022 season, Devin Leary and the NC State Wolfpack had dreams of a historic season.
The Heisman Trophy, an ACC title and a spot in the College Football Playoff was all on the table. While some of those things began to evaporate when they lost to Clemson a couple of weeks ago, the hopes took another huge hit when Leary was injured last weekend against Florida State.
Originally, it was theorized Leary would only miss a couple of weeks, but now NC State has dropped a bombshell, revealing the Wolfpack signal caller will undergo season-ending surgery next week.
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“NC State quarterback Devin Leary will undergo surgery and will miss the remainder of the 2022 season,” announced NC State. “Additional imagine caused NC State’s orthopedic team to determine that surgery to repair a torn pectoral muscle was the best course of action. There is no damage to his shoulder and he is expected to make a full recovery.
“Dr. James Andrews will perform the surgery next week in Gulf Breeze, Florida.”
Before the additional imaging, NC State head coach Dave Doeren believed Leary wouldn’t need surgery, and could be back on the field as early as this Saturday against Syracuse. Unfortunately, that’s not how things worked out for the Wolfpack, and now Leary will begin the long trek back to the football field.
“Doeren says QB Devin Leary’s shoulder injury will not require surgery. ‘Rehab-able injury and that starts today’ but said ‘There isn’t a timeline. It could be this week or it could be six weeks.’ Says Leary ‘is tough & will grind’ and says he won’t answer any more questions on injury,” reported ESPN’s David Hale earlier this week.
Alas, the original hit on Leary led to a roughing the passer penalty on the Seminoles. Prior to that play, the NC State star quarterback had just led the Pack on its first touchdown drive of the game, finding wide receiver Darryl Jones in the end zone from 10 yards out at the end of an impressive drive to narrow the deficit to just 7 points. Up until the apparent injury, Leary completed 10-21 passes for 131 yards.
Obviously, the team rallied after Leary went out, coming back to win the game with an inspired effort on the defensive end, holding Florida State scoreless in the second half to secure the comeback victory.
Now, NC State will turn to backup quarterback Jack Chambers against the Orange, and seemingly for the remainder of the season. Time will tell how well the Wolfpack adapt, but the news is less than ideal for the program and Devin Leary.