Report: Texas A&M to start QB Jaylen Henderson vs. LSU, his third-straight start
Texas A&M will start sophomore quarterback Jaylen Henderson at quarterback against LSU on Saturday, according to Matt Zenitz. It will mark the third-straight start for Henderson.
The pair of Aggies quarterbacks above him on the depth chart — Conner Weigman and Max Johnson — have both been sidelined by injuries, leading to Henderson’s emergence of late. He accounted for six touchdowns across his two starts, both wins.
Henderson transferred to Texas A&M from Fresno State ahead of this season.
The Aggies and Tigers kickoff at noon on Saturday in Baton Rouge.
The Aggies will be down a key playmaker vs. LSU
Texas A&M will be without Evan Stewart for Saturday’s game against LSU, per Zenitz. He didn’t travel to Baton Rouge with the Aggies and, as a result, will not play in the game.
Stewart missed Texas A&M’s game against Ole Miss earlier this month, but returned for last week’s game against Abilene Christian. He didn’t do much, though, as he only hauled in one reception for eight yards in the Aggies’ 38-10 victory.
On the season, Stewart has 38 receptions and ranks second on the team with 514 yards behind only Ainias Smith. He also has four receiving touchdowns on the year, trailing just Noah Thomas, who has five.
Henderson recently discussed starting, Jimbo Fisher’s ouster
Less than 24 hours after his first career win as a starter, his head coach was fired. After reports surfaced following the game the next morning, Texas A&M made the move official, parting ways with Jimbo Fisher. The Aggies will pay out his full buyout of $77.6 million.
For Henderson, it was a stunning move for him and his teammates. After one of the most dominant wins of A&M’s season, Fisher was pushed out. In his roughly six seasons with the Aggies, the head coach was 45–25.
“We just won by 41 and the next day you find out your head coach is fired,” the quarterback said to On3’s Pete Nakos. That was wild. It caught all of us by surprise. He was a big reason why I’m even at Texas A&M, so I appreciate him for even allowing me to come to a school like this. I wish him nothing but the best in the rest of his life.”
Expected to be the starting quarterback for the foreseeable future for A&M, it’s been a major role change since where he started in August.
“You know, beginning of the season my job was to really inspire and encourage the guys on the team. Just trying to be that motivator for them, trying to help the team with everything I can,” he said. “After practice, I was throwing to guys just in case anything happened, I’d be ready.
“When the moment came, I had to be ready for it. Obviously wish our season could’ve been better, but we can’t control that now. We just got to finish out strong and try and get in the best bowl game we possibly can.”