Matt Rhule says Casey Thompson will be 'pretty limited' in spring practice

A breath of fresh air is in Lincoln, with Matt Rhule taking over the program. He is stepping in and hoping to turn around the ship, with the journey beginning on Monday with the first spring practice. A couple of housekeeping items had to be addressed, including the health of quarterback Casey Thompson.

Rhule said Thompson is going to be “pretty limited” throughout the spring, still recovering from shoulder surgery. Expectations are not being set too high by the head coach, saying the hope is for throwing to occur at some point. Otherwise, Thompson is still going to be going through rehab.

“I think we’re hoping he’ll be able to throw,” Rhule said. “He’ll be pretty limited. I don’t see him — and we’ll air on the side of caution with all these guys, right? But, I don’t see him being able to do very much other than potentially at some point being able to throw.”

If there is one thing Rhule is not interested in, it’s seeing Thompson reinjuring himself. In order for the quarterback to get back on the field, everything must be fully healed to make sure there is no chance of worsening the injury.

“I think he’s been very diligent about doing what he’s allowed to do,” Rhule said. “He might be doing things on his own that I don’t know about… But he’s been diligent. Re-injury, to me, is the biggest no-no,. We don’t want to have re-injury, so we have to make sure things are thoroughly healed.”

Thompson spend the majority of last season as Nebraska‘s starter, playing in 10 games. He accumulated 2,407 yards, 17 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions while completing 63.1% of his throws. A decent year after previously being the starting quarterback at Texas.

However, there is shaping up to be some quarterback storylines in Year One of Rhule, especially with Jeff Sims, formerly of Georgia Tech, coming into the program via the NCAA transfer portal. Sims is expected to be healthy throughout spring and compete for the starting job.

Even so, there will be plenty of time for Rhule to figure out who his starting quarterback will be. Both spring and fall practice will present opportunities. For now, Thompson will continue to be on the sidelines and make sure his shoulder recovers correctly.