Makari Paige injury?
The broadcast covered Rayshaun Benny getting hurt, but I don't think they ever mentioned that late in the 3rd quarter Makari had an awkward collision bringing down Milroe on a QB run. He got up right away but looked a little unsteady afterwards. Quinten Johnson went in for him and seemed to play most of the rest of the game, with Keon Sabb getting some snaps too. Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't recall seeing Paige on the field after that hit. Quinten once again stepped up and made a key play forcing the fumble at midfield in the 4th quarter. Sabb had a nice open field hit on a short pass as well. But with Washington's passing attack we will want our secondary at full strength. For what it is worth Makari tweeted out "God is great" after the game. Hopefully it was just a stinger or a precautionary thing and he is a full go Monday night.
Video of Paige's awkward collision with Milroe @10:32:
January 2nd, 2024 at 11:09 PM ^
I sure hope he's good to go, he's been a very solid player for us. We'll need the secondary to all be healthy as Washington's passing game will be the only thing that gives them a chance at winning, especially with Dillon Johnson looking injured.
January 2nd, 2024 at 11:23 PM ^
Washington is already saying Dillon Johnson is going to play, he has been battling that foot injury pretty much all season but hasn't missed a game.
January 2nd, 2024 at 11:43 PM ^
They can stay all they want, but him getting carted down the tunnel tells me otherwise.
January 2nd, 2024 at 11:50 PM ^
Corum "played" against OSU last season after being injured in the Illinois game. But, you know ...
January 3rd, 2024 at 12:32 AM ^
They said X-rays negative, but you'd need an MRI to see so many things. Whatever it is, I can't imagine he'll be anywhere close to 100%
January 3rd, 2024 at 6:33 AM ^
Yep. When I tore my acl, mcl and every ligament in my knee, my X-rays were immaculate. I should have just left it at that instead of letting them use my hamstring to reconstruct my knee and going through 3 months of hell. Rehab and lost wages. I had disability insurance so the lost wages weren’t horrible but the bills were.
January 3rd, 2024 at 10:31 AM ^
If I was a player I would do whatever I could to play in the game. Once in a lifetime opportunity
January 2nd, 2024 at 11:14 PM ^
Good news is he was at least able to stand on the sidelines with his helmet on for the rest of the game, however after the final 4th down stop while the rest of the team ran onto the field to celebrate he was slowly walking and appeared to have a slight limp.
January 3rd, 2024 at 10:44 AM ^
Paige was jogging under the supervision of athletic trainers behind the M bench in the second half. He did not go back in the game which seems significant but he wasn’t in the medical tent or anything. He was working it out with a trainer.
January 2nd, 2024 at 11:16 PM ^
Good catch on the injury. I didn't notice that during the game. Paige has always felt a little "hesitant" in run coverage so I figured the coaches just liked Johnson more in the game situation the way that Bama was playing offense. Then again Johnson also closed the OSU game when it was obvious they were passing, so maybe Johnson is the preferred choice in crunch time.
January 2nd, 2024 at 11:29 PM ^
Johnson has really stepped up this year and I can see the coaching staff preferring to go with him in crunch time, but the fact it was Sabb that got the other 4th quarter snaps at that safety spot instead of the more reliable Paige suggests he wasn't able to play.
January 3rd, 2024 at 6:37 AM ^
Sabbs a dude. Yes I’d rather have Makari out there but Sabbs gotten plenty of snaps to step up when needed. Washington’s a different deal. Penix just seems to flip the ball and have it land in the only spot that his guy can catch it. Hopefully having Graham and Grant in his pocket all game will change that. Then again Washington’s line is dam good. Gonna be a biatch!
January 3rd, 2024 at 7:23 AM ^
If you watched this game then I'm not sure where your praise for Johnson is coming from. He was the culprit on a number of long runs by taking bad angles and losing contain. I don't want to dump on the kid, I'm just saying, Paige has been the better player all season against the run and the pass and having to play Johnson instead of him against Washington is a sizable step down in my opinion. I felt like Sabb played much better in his snaps than Johnson to be honest.
January 3rd, 2024 at 9:20 AM ^
Q. Johnson was indeed victimized several times before he caused that fumble. I kept pointing out he just didn't have the wheels to make those plays. Not his fault God didn't gift him that way.
January 3rd, 2024 at 9:41 AM ^
I agree, i noticed his bad angles almost immediately but super happy for the dude to have the fumble be the more memorable moment of the game.
It seems his biggest issue is really coming in too tight in the line and losing contain which is definitely coach-able. Not sure if that's something that can get sorted out in a week though. I'll be curious what the UFR says but i'd bet he grades out around 0/+1
January 3rd, 2024 at 10:23 AM ^
I'm glad you brought this up, because I mentioned it to a few people during the game, but no one else seemed to notice. The number of times he was in poor position, only to dive into open grass after the ball had passed him was frustrating.
Hopefully Makari is good to go on Monday.
January 2nd, 2024 at 11:24 PM ^
While we’re at it, do we have any specifics on the Benny injury?
January 3rd, 2024 at 6:39 AM ^
I thinks he’s gonna be out for sure. Was in a boot or cast.
January 2nd, 2024 at 11:30 PM ^
Another thing to keep an eye out for: Sam Webb posted on Twitter that Mason Graham was limping for most of the 2nd half. Also, while he wasn't on the injury report from what I remember, it looked like McBurrows wasn't suited up for the game
January 2nd, 2024 at 11:53 PM ^
If this is a hobbled Mason Graham (in OT), then I'm good with a hobbled Mason Graham ...
January 3rd, 2024 at 8:56 AM ^
Mason could be in handcuffs and leg shackles and still do that. My custom Mason Graham jersey will be retired when he goes top 5 in the 25 draft. As an ex wrestler, you don’t mess with heavyweights on the football field, especially ones who never lost. He may look like the chubby kid in street clothes but would mess you up worse than Kenny Rogers roasters!
January 2nd, 2024 at 11:53 PM ^
Didn’t Mason make maybe the key individual play (defense edition) in overtime. As I recall, he tackled their running back in the backfield to make it 3rd and 14. His burst up the middle was fantastic. He looked pretty good to me.
I hope everyone (other than Zinter) can suit up and play in the most important game most, if not all, will ever play. To get to this point and not be available would be heartbreaking.
[Edit} Rob, you beat me to it and with video, no less. I bow to your excellence.
January 3rd, 2024 at 1:45 AM ^
Shout out to Zinter walking around on the sideline though!! If he was limping, he hid it well!!
January 3rd, 2024 at 12:10 AM ^
Graham was clearly limping walking to the sidelines on a couple of occasions in the second half, but obviously kept returning to the field to wreak havoc.
January 3rd, 2024 at 2:11 AM ^
McBurrows was 100% on the field for at least one play. Saw #18 on defense clearly.
January 3rd, 2024 at 3:16 AM ^
McBurrows came in the game at one point when Sainristil's helmet came off and had to leave for one play.
January 3rd, 2024 at 10:47 AM ^
Yes. McBurrows played. He did fine. to OP above remember the early enrollees are there in jerseys. My heart sank several teams seeing a #2 come out of the locker room in a jersey and street clothes only to remember it was Jaden Davis and not Corum or Johnson. There may be a #18 freshman too.
January 3rd, 2024 at 10:34 AM ^
Interesting, thanks for the clarification. I didn't notice him but I made my comment because a bunch of players posted pictures of their immediate post-game celebrations. In the pics everyone was still on the field in full uniform celebrating with the confetti and all that but McBurrows was in normal clothes in all of them. So either he got hurt and left the game early or else he ran off and changed super quick before everyone else got off the field
January 2nd, 2024 at 11:51 PM ^
I was looking for Paige late, and eventually spotted him walking with a noticeable limp as he came back towards the sideline from one of the timeout huddles during OT.
January 3rd, 2024 at 3:15 AM ^
My observation live from the game: Paige was on the sideline hopping on one leg with what looked like a trainer evaluating him. My guess is that he had an ankle injury as he was having some trouble hopping on one of his legs.
January 3rd, 2024 at 5:05 AM ^
I was watching him from the stands. He was testing out his ankle with a trainer it looked like. Based on whatever test the trainer was doing, he didn't pass from what I could tell and was held out the rest of the game. My guess is that it's not significant enough to keep him out next week, since it was close whether he would return.
January 3rd, 2024 at 9:44 AM ^
Was it just me or was McGregor not on the field much in the 2nd half?
January 3rd, 2024 at 10:59 AM ^
I called 971 The Ticket this morning. According to Karsch:
-Does not look good for Benny
-Jason Avant said Paige was available.
-Graham did not seem to have anything significant.
January 3rd, 2024 at 11:59 AM ^
Stinks for Benny.
Luckily, the interior line has decent depth. I think a key will be to ensure Goode doesn’t get stuck onto the field if UW goes tempo.
January 3rd, 2024 at 12:48 PM ^
And even if he does, isn’t Goode a good pass rusher? I think UW’s run game is gonna be hampered.
January 3rd, 2024 at 1:04 PM ^
He’s decent at generating pressure, but seems to lack the agility to close the deal when QBs get wiggly.
January 3rd, 2024 at 1:04 PM ^
Sabb looked pretty good so the silver lining is that he got a lot of time. Next year we should be good with those two because losing Moore could have been a big hit.