Iowa football shares positive injury updates ahead of Oregon game
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In his Tuesday press conference to preview Oregon, Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz shared encouraging news on the injury front.
Iowa and Ferentz expect to have starting left guard Beau Stephens back against No. 9 Oregon (7-1, 4-1 Big Ten).
“He’s fine, yeah,” Ferentz said of Stephens’ status on Tuesday.
That’s in line with what Ferentz thought of Stephens’ injury status immediately after Iowa’s 41-3 win over Minnesota.
“He seems fine. No signs of anything there. If it were life or death, Beau could have played. It’s a tissue issue, not anything more severe than that, but it didn’t make sense at that point. Things were under control,” Ferentz said.
Stephens exited Iowa’s win over Minnesota early. Stephens was limited to just 15 snaps against the Gophers, per Pro Football Focus. Sophomore Leighton Jones stepped in for the senior and did a fine job.
Graduate senior Jaden Harrell started Iowa’s first five games at middle linebacker, but an injury thrust junior Jayden Montgomery into starting Iowa’s past three games there. While Harrell is rapidly improving and expected to be available if need be, the Hawkeyes plan to start Montgomery.
“We’ll start out with Montgomery. Harrell is coming along. I think he’s pretty close to being 100%. If he has to play, he’ll play, but we have confidence in both right now,” Ferentz said.
Harrell was listed as “questionable” versus Penn State and was seen in pregame warming up with a brace around his left knee. The 6-foot-2, 237-pound linebacker was not listed on the availability report versus Minnesota, though Harrell did not play against the Gophers.
Kickoff between No. 20 Iowa (6-2, 4-1 Big Ten) and No. 9 Oregon is set for 2:30 p.m. CT this Saturday from Kinnick Stadium and the game will be broadcast by CBS.
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This article originally appeared on Hawkeyes Wire: Iowa football shares positive injury updates ahead of Oregon game
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