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John Mateer injury: Oklahoma QB reveals how much surgery is impacting his play

IMG_0985by: Griffin McVeigh7 hours agogriffin_mcveigh
Oklahoma QB John Mateer after the Ole Miss loss
© BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

John Mateer before his injury and John Mateer after his injury look a little different. Early in the season, the Oklahoma quarterback looked to be a frontrunner for the Heisman Trophy. Since then, struggles have come during big-time games for the Sooners, losing two of the last three.

Some believe the thumb Mateer got surgery on might be part of the reason for poor play. He wants to make sure the air is cleared, though. His thumb is completely fine just weeks removed from the procedure. If anything, it’s the natural flow of a college football season taking place, in his opinion.

“It’s definitely not my thumb,” Mateer said Monday. “I’ll tell you that. I’ll stand by that. My thumb is perfectly fine. I think there’s just ups and downs with the flow of the game. I’m human, I’m not perfect. So, there’s good times, there’s bad times. Not to say it’s bad, I don’t really think it’s that bad. I’m not not seeing the field…

“It’s not just ‘I don’t know what I’m looking at’. So, I don’t want to put that perspective out there. I’m still confident in what I’m looking at and there’s just a couple that I missed. That happens, it just happened to be at a bad time. That’s all it is.”

You can glance at any of the three stat lines Mateer produced vs. Texas, South Carolina, or Ole Miss. None looks too pretty in his favor for a variety of different reasons. Starting with the Red River Shootout, Mateer threw three interceptions. One week later in Columbia, he only threw for 150 yards on 26 pass attempts. And then throughout the Ole Miss loss, multiple overthrows took place in critical times despite other options appearing to be open.

In total, post-surgery Mateer is completing 57.9% of his throws for 575 yards, two touchdowns, and three interceptions. Not the numbers anyone in Norman anticipated.

Thankfully, a great opportunity is ahead of him Saturday night in Knoxville. Oklahoma goes up against Tennessee and one of the SEC’s worst pass defenses. The Vols give up 265 passing yards per game and a total of 16 touchdowns through the air.

Mateer might have some wide eyes entering Neyland Stadium, even if a tough atmosphere is on deck. Getting back to his normal self is priority No. 1, not using the thumb injury as any kind of excuse.