 "Photo: Zach Davis / IC")
UT senior quarterback Aaron Opelt suffered a partial tear of his right rotator cuff against Western Michigan on Oct. 10. Opelt has missed two games and parts of two others since the injury.
“There’s just a little tear in the back of my shoulder, and that’s what I’m battling right now,” said Opelt after UT’s loss to Central Michigan on Wednesday night. “It’s not any worse. I was with [the doctor] and he said I didn’t do any more tearing, so that’s just initial reaction to it. It’s not any worse than it was, so that’s encouraging for me. It’s definitely not my last play at the University of Toledo if I have anything to say about it.”
According to UT Head Coach Tim Beckman, the injury was reported as a bruised right shoulder instead of a partial tear for the benefit of Opelt’s future.
“That’s what Aaron Opelt and his family wanted,” Beckman said.
Beckman also added that Opelt will not require surgery for the tearing.
One teammate said that most UT players knew of the injury and that it had been “making the rounds” through the locker room.
“I respect Aaron for playing through that,” said another teammate who was not aware of the injury. “It’s his senior year, and he just wants to go out and try as best he can to help us win.”
Opelt was injured while falling on a seven-yard run in the second quarter of Toledo’s 58-26 loss to WMU.
In his first six games, Opelt completed 132-of-220 passes for 1784 yards (297.3 ypg) and 14 touchdowns with just five interceptions while rushing for three scores.
Since that game, he sat out home games against Northern Illinois and Temple before returning on the road against Miami (OH). Opelt was removed twice from the game against the RedHawks, the first from a coaching decision and the second by his own accord. He also left the following game at Central Michigan after an 11-day layoff between both games.
In two games since returning, Opelt has passed for just 207 total yards while throwing two touchdowns and four interceptions.
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