Longhorns’ QB Ewers (ankle) feeling ‘a lot better’
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Max Olson, ESPN Staff Writer
ATLANTA – After a month of working to recover from a high-ankle sprain, Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers said Monday he’s feeling “a lot better” as the No. 5 Longhorns approach their College Football Playoff quarterfinal showdown with No. 4 Arizona State in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.
Ewers suffered the injury during a 31-14 win over Kentucky on Nov. 23 and has continued to play through it while wearing a brace on his right ankle.
In the week leading up to Texas’ regular season finale at rival Texas A&M, with an SEC championship game bid on the line, Ewers said he felt like he was getting treatment “all day, every day” on his ankle to get him ready to play.
“Not having that time off to completely let it heal was definitely a struggle,” Ewers said at Peach Bowl media day. “I’m feeling a whole lot better than I did back then.”
Since the injury, Ewers has thrown for 778 yards on 62% passing with three passing touchdowns and four interceptions. He led the Longhorns to a 17-7 win in College Station, then threw for a season-high 358 yards in Texas’ overtime loss to Georgia in the SEC title game.
Ewers has benefitted from a two-week break between the SEC title game and Texas’ first-round home game against Clemson, as well as the 10-day period to prepare for the Peach Bowl quarterfinal.
“I think he’s as healthy as he’s been in a long time, for sure,” Texas co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach AJ Milwee said at Peach Bowl media day. “That’s one thing I give Quinn a lot of credit for: He’s relentless in his recovery and trying to get his body in the best situation that it can be in. I’ll give him a ton of credit that he handles his body like a pro.”
Ewers is also managing the lingering effects of an oblique injury that forced him to miss two games in September.
“It’s almost like just built-up scar tissue in there that I just have to deal with it,” he said. “There’s nothing I can really do.”
Despite those setbacks, Ewers still earned second-team All-SEC honors in his first season in the conference and has thrown for 2,867 yards with 27 total touchdowns and 10 interceptions in his junior season.
Texas’ coaching staff responded to Ewers’ ankle injury by installing a run package for backup quarterback Arch Manning. The former five-star recruit has made cameos in each of the Longhorns’ last three games and has recorded carries on seven of his nine snaps.
“Anytime you can have a chance to help your team win, you’re excited,” Manning said. “That’s the role I’m in right now, and I’m gonna do it the best I can.”
Manning flashed his ability as a run threat early in the season with a 67-yard rushing touchdown against UTSA. On his first carry against Texas A&M, he turned a fourth-and-2 run into a 15-yard touchdown for a 7-0 lead.
“That was a big-time play in that game,” Milwee said. “He broke a tackle and kept his balance and got in the end zone. He brings that dynamic.”
Texas offensive coordinator Kyle Flood said he hasn’t incorporated a Wildcat-style run package into an offense in a significant way since his days with Mohamed Sanu at Rutgers from 2009-2011. Unlike a true Wildcat package, though, Flood noted they have the whole playbook available when Manning steps in.
“It’s absolutely been fun,” Flood said. “Arch has got kind of a unique skill set and he’s a really good athlete. He’s a strong-bodied guy. There’s no question that stuff’s been fun to do.”
It’s an offensive wrinkle that Texas will continue to use in opportune times as it chases its first national championship since 2005. Flood said the two QBs have a great relationship and a shared understanding from playing under an intense spotlight during their careers.
“I think Sark does a great job at defining the roles,” Flood said. “I know the outside world thinks it’s gray sometimes, but it’s not. This is Quinn Ewers’ team. This is Quinn’s team. Everybody knows that. There’s no lack of clarity in our building in terms of whose team it is.”
Cincinnati Reds left-hander Wade Miley said Friday that he has not been accused of any wrongdoing, one day after reports stated a deposition from a lawsuit alleged he supplied Tyler Skaggs with drugs when both players were with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The deposition is part of a motion for summary judgment filed by the Los Angeles Angels, requesting a lawsuit from the Skaggs family be dismissed.
The deposition from Ryan Hamill, Skaggs’ agent, contains testimony that he was concerned in 2013 about Skaggs’ drug use. Hamill said he and Skaggs’ family confronted Skaggs about his drug use. Skaggs was then in his second season as a teammate of Miley with the Diamondbacks.
“He came clean,” Hamill testified. “He said he had been using — I believe it was Percocets — and he said he got them through Wade Miley.”
Skaggs died on July 1, 2019, at age 27 in a Dallas-area hotel. The autopsy found fentanyl, oxycodone and alcohol in his system.
Miley briefly addressed the issue before Friday’s road game against the Detroit Tigers.
“I hate what happened to Tyler, it sucks. My thoughts are with his family and his friends,” Miley said. “But I’m not going to sit here and talk about things that someone might have said about me or whatnot. I was never a witness for any of this. I was never accused of any wrongdoing.”
Former Angels communications director Eric Kay is serving a 22-year prison sentence in Texas after being found guilty on two charges of providing drugs related on Skaggs’ overdose.
The Athletic reported that the criminal proceedings against Kay included a recorded phone conversation in which Kay told his mother that Miley was a drug source to Skaggs.
Asked if Major League Baseball has contacted him regarding the allegations, Miley said, “I’d rather just focus on the Cincinnati Reds right now and baseball and what I have to do moving forward. I’ve got to get ready for a game on Sunday.”
Miley was mentioned in Kay’s criminal case, but he was never charged with a crime.
Skaggs was traded to the Angels after the 2013 season. He went 28-38 with a 4.41 ERA in 96 career starts.
Miley, 38, is with his eighth big league team and attempting to revive his career after Tommy John surgery in 2024.
Miley has a career 109-99 mark with a 4.09 ERA in 319 games (311 starts) since making his major league debut in 2011. This is his second go-round with the Reds. He was with the team in the 2020 and 2021 seasons, going 12-10 with a 3.55 ERA in 177⅓ innings over 34 starts (32 innings).
The Skaggs family is suing the Angels, contending that high-level team officials, as well as other employees, knew Kay was a drug user and should have known he was Skaggs’ source.
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