The athletic training room has become a far too familiar place for Baker University football players.
The Baker football team continues to battle through its season with more than 30 injuries, nine of which are long term and will require surgery.
“Typically you have one to two guys who get hurt and need surgery, but I have never seen nine,” defensive coordinator Jason Thoren said.
Thoren said the injuries include concussions, ACL tears, hip pointers, broken shoulders, wrist problems and even a root canal.
Free safety Brandon Hubbard’s tooth was knocked out in practice the day before the game against Avila University Oct. 21. He’s been sitting out this past week to recover. Whether he is done for the season is now in the hands of his dentist.
The long-term injuries have affected some positions more than others.
Danny Pike, Brad Thimmesch and Stephen Underwood are all defensive ends with season-ending injuries.
“Sometimes when you lose a player, you sometimes lose their leadership, and that’s kind of a double whammy,” Thoren said.
The same dilemma has occurred in the linebacker position due to injuries sustained by Chris Campbell and Chad Cross, who is still recovering from an ACL tear last season.
Thoren said all these injuries have given players the opportunity to step up.
“A lot of them were freshmen, so they weren’t ready, but now they are older freshmen, and they’ve seen some football,” Thoren said. “Levi Calhoun has stepped up. He’s the fourth defensive end to start out at that position now becoming one of the best in the league.”
Director of Sports Medicine Lynn Bott said the number of significant injuries is higher this year than usual.
“They are doing really good with coming in,” Bott said. “Almost all the injured players are coming in once a day, some even twice a day to get rehab.”
More players are injured than what the list reports because not all players report their injuries, Thoren said.
Running back Richie Bryant, who recently got his first start against Avila, has been dealing with a hip pointer and now shoulder and ankle problems.
“I’m still playing through it,” Bryant said. “I feel like I have to step up and prove myself a little bit.”
Andy Bibb is the starting right offensive tackle. He has played with injury-prone right guard Eric Munoz since high school.
“(Munoz) keeps getting injury after injury,” Bibb said. “That kind of messes with the communication a bit.”
Bibb said he is staying healthy by checking into the training room periodically to keep his back loose.
Throughout all these injuries, Thoren said he has been able to see a maturity exhibited by team members.
“One positive I’ve seen is our guys stepping up and kind of learning on the run. They’ve all stepped up and played well. That shows what kind of players we have,” Thoren said.
Thoren said it will be hard to recognize the team in the off-season with everyone back from the injuries.
“Now they’ve been through the fire,” he said. “They know what they need to do in the off-season to get better.”