Hooks goes down
It was just what Bronco Mendenhall has tired to avoid all spring — a serious injury.
Linebacker Terrance Hooks suffered what appeared to be a serious left knee injury in the final series of plays at the end of Thursday’s practice.
Hooks had just tipped a Brenden Gaskins pass up in the air and made a move to get underneath it, succeeding, when he crashed to the turf in pain.
“The preliminary indication is it appears to be serious, possibly a patella tendon injury but we’ll know more after an examination in the hospital,” said Mendenhall.
The injury cast a cloud over the practice session as Mendenhall, linebacker coaches Paul Tidwell and Barry Lamb huddled with defensive coordinator Jaime Hill around Hooks as trainer Kevin Morris worked on his knee to secure support for the injury.
“Non-contact injury on the grass on a non-contact day,” Mendenhall said, when I asked him how frustrating it is when he tried to reduce such freak injuries. “It saddens me beyond what I could even tell you and frustration is even stronger than that. I just don’t know what to say.”
Hooks had been seeing action with the first team defense at middle linebacker and had been one of the best physical linebackers, especially against the run. While Matt Bauman has been the mainstay starter, if Hooks injury ends up being a season-ending injury with surgery and rehab that will take him out of next season, it will be a huge blow.
BYU just released a JC linebacker recruit, Tolu Moala from his scholarship, at his request. While the decision was mutual, the linebacker out of El Camino would have been a welcome fall edition now with Hooks going down. Moala was looking for a better opportunity, married with a child, he just signed with Oklahoma State.
In Hooks absence, coach Tidwell will likely move over Dan Van Sweden (6-2, 221) from outside. He has been playing inside and outside but had made the switch to outside linebacker a week ago. Also in the mix is Matt Ah You, just off a mission, who started before his church service.
“Our prayers are for Terrance,” said Bauman. “We hope he just tweaked it. We need him and he’s a great player.”