Jimbo Fisher addresses Texas A&M's history with injured quarterbacks

Few teams have had as poor injury luck at quarterback as Texas A&M over the last few years, with multiple starters lost for the season due to injuries.

The Aggies are once again dealing with it this year, as Connor Weigman was lost and Max Johnson was thrust back into the starting role.

“Some of it’s freak accidents as much as anything. And it’s unfortunate luck,” coach Jimbo Fisher said. “Like I said, I’ve never had that happen before in my life, but it’s bitten us here so hopefully we can get through it.”

After all, Weigman landed the starting job after performing well during the 2022 season as the third-string option. He only took the job after Haynes King and Johnson were both hurt.

Johnson has done reasonably well in relief of Weigman this season, throwing for 1,452 yards with nine touchdowns and five interceptions.

Of course, all of Texas A&M’s quarterbacks over the last couple years have gotten some reps thanks to the absolute slew of injuries at the position.

“Guys get banged up. A couple of our guys have gotten hurt on quarterback sneaks, let alone on getting hit in the pocket,” Fisher said. “So some of the things, we’ve had a toe. We had a turf toe last year, where he bent his toe. He was running and stuck his toe in the ground and got a turf toe. This year we had an ankle. We got, he went to step up and the lineman came through and he stepped and hit an ankle. Max hit his thumb on a helmet. I mean some of them are freak, not good, accidents.”

The Aggies will look to close out the season strong, having lost three of their last four games. The road to finish isn’t that bad, with home games against Mississippi State and Abilene Christian and then a road trip to LSU.

The team will likely secure bowl eligibility, which will be important for some younger players.

Still, the key is keeping the quarterback healthy.

Somehow, Texas A&M has to avoid the revolving door at the position that injury has created over the last couple years. Fisher just kept reminiscing on the various bad luck injuries the team has had.

“You want nobody around your quarterback, but in today’s game that’s not a realistic thing,” he said. “But he broke a thumb, last year Max on a follow-through hit a helmet. Haynes turned his turf toe, which blew up. And we were stepping up to throw and a guy hit Connor in the ankle. That was as much as anything. And the year before, Haynes was running in the open field, the one at Colorado, he wasn’t getting hit in the pocket. He broke a run and scrambled out and was running, stuck his foot in the ground and got hit in space.”

Unlucky. And yet Texas A&M will hope that spate of bad luck at quarterback is over going forward.