‘I realized pretty quickly’ – Former Vols QB Heath Shuler confirms big suspicion about Tennessee QB Faizon Brandon and the Auburn game
Tennessee Volunteers true freshman quarterback Faizon Brandon was benched in the win against the Auburn Tigers.
There have been some mixed signals sent over the last week about Tennessee Vols freshman quarterback Faizon Brandon’s health.
Brandon injured his throwing shoulder in Week 4 against Texas — he left the game for six snaps before returning — but he wasn’t listed on the SEC injury report last week before Tennessee’s game against Auburn.
The North Carolina native was ineffective in the first half against Auburn and was subsequently benched in favor of sophomore George MacIntyre.
Vols head coach Josh Heupel told ESPN at halftime that Brandon wasn’t 100 percent. After the game, Heupel changed his tune and said that he didn’t think Brandon’s performance was affected by the injury. Then on Monday, Heupel told reporters that the injury did affect Brandon against Auburn.
Former Vols QB Heath Shuler says he realized pretty quickly before the Auburn game that Faizon Brandon was injured
Former Tennessee quarterback Heath Shuler joined WNML’s SportsTalk on Monday and he shared what he saw while watching Brandon warm up before the game.
Shuler pointed out that it was obvious that Brandon wasn’t healthy before playing Auburn.
“You’ve got to give a lot of credit to Faizon for being tough enough to want to go out and play,” said Shuler. “There’s a difference between playing hurt and playing injured, and I truly believe that Faizon was injured. I know he wanted to be out there and play. But when you are injured the way he has been with his shoulder, sometimes the performance really lacks.
“I watched him during warmups, and he just didn’t have the zip on the ball. I knew that he was controlling the number of throws that he had during warmups. Just watching him during that process, I realized pretty quickly that he truly was injured. From a coach standpoint, you want your quarterback — the starting quarterback — to go in and play and give him an opportunity, and I think that’s the reason why Coach Heupel made that decision. Things weren’t clicking — he really couldn’t get the ball down the field. Oftentimes, mentally in the back of your head, you’re thinking about your injury. So I think Coach Heupel’s decision to put George in the game was the right one.”
Brandon certainly hasn’t been playing his best football so far this season. But you have to wonder how much the injury was affecting him against Auburn. If he didn’t trust his arm to make the throws, or if there was just a little doubt in the back of his mind, it may explain his hesitancy to let it rip.
It’s tough to keep an elite competitor off the field. Ultimately, Brandon couldn’t get it done and the head coach made the decision that needed to be made to win the game on Saturday.
As for Brandon’s health moving forward?
Well, Heupel isn’t saying much, so for now, it’s anyone’s guess as to how healthy Brandon is or isn’t at the moment.
