Reports: Max Johnson out several weeks with hand injury
Per ESPN’s Ian Fitzsimmons, Texas A&M starting quarterback Max Johnson suffered a broken bone in his throwing hand in the Aggies‘ loss to Mississippi State and will be unavailable for the foreseeable, potentially even the season.
In Monday’s press conference, Fisher stated that Johnson would be day-to-day, as well as what the Aggies’ plan will be if Johnson can’t play moving forward.
“We’ll go day-to-day,” Fisher said. “He banged his hand. We’ll go day-to-day… We’ll get Haynes [King] and Conner [Weigman] ready to play if Max can’t go.”
In relief of Johnson on Saturday, King led two touchdown drives, completing 6 for 13 passes for 49 yards, adding 14 yards and a touchdown on two carries, but did throw two interceptions, including one returned for a touchdown.
“Haynes came and led us straight down, made a great drive,” Fisher said. “His decision making was good. Unfortunately he had a couple of breaks where the ball tipped the wrong way but he was doing the right thing. He came in and led well and took us to two touchdown drives as a matter of fact.”
King has upside, but has struggled with turnovers in the action he’s seen this season. If it comes down to it, Fisher noted that the team is comfortable with freshman Conner Weigman, a five-star prospect coming out of Cypress (Tex.) Bridgeland.
“We give him reps every week with the twos,” Fisher said. “He’s knowledgeable, sits right by me on the plane when we travel, he can do things in the meetings and is really progressing. He understands everything, what we’re doing, and how we’re doing it, and is getting better and better. I think he is going to be a very good player.”
He added.
“We feel comfortable with him in the game and can play very well with Conner.”
King won the starting job in fall camp, and threw for 461 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions, adding 52 yards on the ground, through his first two starts. Due to turnovers and a stagnant offensive showing in the loss to Appalachian State, Fisher made the change from King to Johnson ahead of the Miami game and the LSU transfer’s steady play helped the Aggies to a 17-9 win over the Hurricanes, and the following week, a 23-21 come from behind win against Arkansas. Prior to leaving the game on Saturday, Johnson completed 19 of 26 pass attempts for 203 yards and a touchdown, but fumbled in the red zone, costing the Aggies a scoring opportunity.
With Johnson now out for the foreseeable future, expect King to take the reins moving forward, but if Texas A&M’s offense continues to struggle, Fisher could look to jumpstart the offense behind Weigman, who was a five-star prospect coming out of high school and brings a different type of talent at the quarterback position.
Texas A&M faces No. 1 Alabama on Saturday in Tuscaloosa. The game will air on CBS at 7 p.m. CST.