OKLAHOMA CITY — Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford will return from a sprained right shoulder and start for No. 19 Oklahoma today against Baylor.
Bradford missed the Sooners’ last three games after spraining the AC joint in his throwing shoulder in a loss to BYU. Coach Bob Stoops said Friday the quarterback has recovered enough to play in the team’s Big 12 opener.
“Sam has had a great week of practice and is ready to play,” Stoops said. “We’re obviously excited to have him back.”
Bradford said earlier in the week that he hoped to play against the Bears (3-1) so he could get a game under his belt before next week’s rivalry game against No. 2 Texas in Dallas. But he also said there was a chance he could still need surgery on his shoulder in the offseason, creating doubt over how his recovery was going.
Bradford, considered a top NFL prospect, has been told there shouldn’t be an elevated risk of re-injuring the shoulder by playing.
“I really don’t think there’s much concern for me taking a hit. From everything that I’ve received from the doctors, it’s like taking any other hit. It can’t do much more damage,” Bradford said. “The odds of me hurting it now are just like the odds of me hurting it before anything happened to it.”
Texas Tech’s Potts doubtful
LUBBOCK, Texas — Texas Tech quarterback Taylor Potts, the nation’s No. 2 passer, is doubtful for tonight’s game against Kansas State. He was hospitalized overnight with a concussion following the Red Raiders’ 48-28 victory over New Mexico last week.
Steven Sheffield, a former walk-on, came in late in the first half after Potts was sacked twice in three plays and threw for 238 yards and three touchdowns.
“I don’t change anything with him. I don’t have to change anything,” coach Mike Leach said of Sheffield. “Of our quarterbacks we have right now, he creates the best tempo for the group.”
There is one difference between Potts and Sheffield, offensive lineman Marlon Winn said.
“Potts has a mustache,” he said.
Southern Miss punter wounded
HATTIESBURG, Miss. — Peter Wilkes, a walk-on punter at Southern Miss, is in critical condition at a Memphis, Tenn., hospital after being shot at his home in Union City, Tenn.
Regional Medical Center officials said Wilkes was being treated in a critical-care unit.
Union City Assistant Police Chief Perry Barfield said the case is under investigation as an accident or self-inflicted gunshot wound. Wilkes was not a member of the Golden Eagles’ travel party to Louisville for today’s game.
The Associated Press
