By ROBERT CESSNARyan Tannehill's role won't change because of the injury to wide receiver Jeff Fuller. Tannehill will remain Texas A&M's backup quarterback and will see limited time at wide receiver, with the key word being limited.
That's what head football coach Mike Sherman said Monday during the Big 12 coaches teleconference and reiterated at his weekly press conference, and then on his radio show Monday.
Fuller, who cracked the fibula in his right leg in Saturday night's 38-30 victory over Utah State, will be out 4-6 weeks. Fuller and Tannehill combined for 105 catches, 1,474 yards and 14 touchdowns as freshmen last season.
Fuller's absence and Tannehill's focus on quarterback leaves freshman Uzoma Nwachukwu, senior Howard Morrow and either freshmen Kenric McNeal or Brandal Jackson on the depth chart as A&M's top three receivers.
Even in limited action Tannehill has more catches than any of them, but Sherman has been adamant about keeping Tannehill at quarterback, even though he's yet to take a snap there this season.
"We have some young guys that I want to see them step up this week in practice," Sherman said. "I think Tannehill played about as much as I want to play him in this last ball game."
Sherman estimated that Tannehill has been in on 25-28 of the offense's 175 plays.
"I'm not going to increase the risk factor on Tannehill any more," Sherman said.
Tannehill said the competitor in him wants to be on the field for every play, but he's comfortable with his role. He also feels in practice he's becoming a better quarterback, which Sherman echoed.
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Sherman hated to lose Fuller, but his philosophy in dealing with personnel losses remains the same.
"I never dwell on injuries, they are part of the game and you just have to move on to the next player and get that player ready to go," Sherman said.
Fuller missed the Oklahoma game last year with a quad injury. Morrow stepped in with six catches for 78 yards and Pierre Brown added six for 78. Those two combined for only five more catches the whole season. Tannehill had four catches for 83 yards against OU and tight end Jamie McCoy added five for 31 yards.
If Fuller is out four weeks, he'll miss Alabama-Birmingham, Arkansas, Oklahoma State and Kansas State. The games after that are Texas Tech and Iowa State.
Fuller could get a medical redshirt, but Sherman said hasn't even thought about that.
"I guess it depends on where we are in the season and how the young guys are doing, and really how far out he's going to be," Sherman said. "I'm hopeful he's back in four weeks, so we'll make that decision at a later date."
Junior Terrence McCoy, who had 24 catches last year for 237 yards, is another of the receivers who needs to step up. He's not one of the six wide receivers with a catch in the first two games. He had catches in eight of the 10 games he played in last year.
"Terrence has to assume a greater responsibility and role in our offense," Sherman said.
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The injury news was better for senior offensive tackle Lee Grimes (bruised ribs) and freshman running back Christine Michael (knee/calf strain). Grimes is day-to-day, while Michael is expected back Wednesday or Thursday.
Senior Michael Shumard and sophomore Danny Baker were the tackles in the Utah State game after Grimes left. A pair of true freshmen worked out at the tackles Monday -- Stephen Barrera at left tackle and Rhontae Scales at right tackle. Sherman said on his radio show that maybe one could be ready to help the team by Saturday.
Junior cornerback Coryell Judie (subluxation of the shoulder) will have surgery. The junior college transfer will redshirt and have two years of eligibility remaining.
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Sherman is taking part in Coach to Cure MD, a national charity project of the American Football Coaches Association which will culminate Saturday as coaches band together to raise awareness and research funding for Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
Sherman invited a local family -- James and Veronica Evans and their 17-month-old son Max, who suffers from the disorder -- to be his guests at Monday's press conference, and they'll be his guests at Saturday's game against UAB.
For more information or to make a donation, go to www.maxevans.org
"We're really proud and honored to be a part of it," Sherman said. "Max did tell me to clean up the penalty situation that we're faced with. He was a little upset about that the other night, so hopefully we'll work on that."
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Junior squadman Michael Hodges, who came out of spring drills a starting linebacker, saw his first collegiate action against Utah State. Hodges is recovering from knee surgery.
"It's good to have him back," Sherman said. "He's like an extra coach out there. He's extremely smart. It's a little bit different when you're coming off that knee surgery. You're a little more protective of it. He's probably not quite as aggressive and flying around like he has been. He hasn't cut it loose just yet, but hopefully this week in practice he'll feel more in tune with that."
Ryan Swope (special teams) and Michael Lamothe (linebacker) also saw their first action, making the number of true freshmen to take the field this season 15.
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The A&M-Arkansas game on Oct. 3 was picked up by ESPN2. That will be a 6:30 p.m. kickoff at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington.
My initial thoughts were to take extra meal money, because both teams are scoring points in bunches. A&M's 38-30 victory over Utah State took 3 hours, 51 minutes and it wasn't on TV. Georgia beat Arkansas 52-41 on TV. That's five more scores, but that game lasted only 3:45. The reason? There were 26 incomplete passes in the Georgia-Arkansas game, but 44 in the Utah State-A&M game.
Robert Cessna's e-mail address is robert.cessna@theeagle.com.
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