John Mateer finally pulled back the curtain on his hand injury from last season, and he did not hold back in revealing how it affected him
The Oklahoma Sooners struggled last season on offense, and a large part of that was because of the injury John Mateer had.
A new story was published on Monday regarding the Oklahoma Sooners‘ star quarterback, John Mateer. And, it’s clear, some explaining was done. Mateer did not play well in 2025, and there are a few reasons why. The hand injury was obviously one of them.
Against the Auburn Tigers, Mateer injured his hand in the first quarter. He broke his thumb when throwing a ball led to his hand hitting the helmet of now NFL rookie Keldrick Faulk. He had surgery and came back against the Texas Longhorns. And, throwing the football was never the same for him.
“It’s like throwing a baseball without your two fingers,” Mateer told On3. “I had to hold the ball flatter, be under it. I couldn’t really get over the top of it as much, and I just had to adapt to make it work. It was OK.
You know, I mean, we all saw what it ended up being. But it’s better now.
“You can get out there and play ball, but at this level, you got to know what’s going on. And it’s not that I didn’t know, but with my thumb, I couldn’t really play ball the way that I normally did. It was different, which is OK, but I had to get better in other ways. I’m not going to sit here and say it was everything, but it’s obviously not easy.”
Mateer finished with 2,800 passing yards, 14 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions in 2025. He completed just 62% of his passes and ran for 431 rushing yards and eight touchdowns. Those numbers need to be better, especially in the passing game.
Why did John Mateer come back so early?
Maybe Mateer coming back early ultimately hurt the Sooners. Maybe. Or, maybe it was always going to be that bad on offense, simply because OU had no run game and no big separation down the field from their receivers. No big plays were being made as much as they needed to be made. And, when Michael Hawkins was in the game, the same issues pertained. So, Mateer just played anyway, and that’s the kind of competitor he is.
“I don’t think that’s the way life should be lived,” Mateer said when asked why he chose to come back early. “
I think you challenge yourself. You see what you’re really made of. And I don’t think it’s that I wasn’t made of enough. I just think that challenge is real hard for anybody.
“I have no regrets about the challenge I put myself through. Obviously, it didn’t work out. Like, it sucked. We all watched it. I’m not saying that. But it’s just the result. I learned a lot, and you learn that you can adapt, and then in the offseason, go back. So, I have no regret.”
There is hope now that Mateer is healthy. Towards the end of the season, he started to look better and better. Now, we don’t have to talk about the LSU game, but against Alabama in the College Football Playoff, he looked so much better. His decision-making was still an issue, as it always has been. However, the throwing was better, for sure.
Mateer has now changed his throwing motion based on recent videos that surfaced online. The motion is more over-the-top than from the side. We will have to wait and see how that changes things during live-action reps. The version of Mateer that we saw against the Michigan Wolverines is the version we all need to see.
If OU can get that version, this could be a team that can compete for a National Championship.