Oklahoma QB Mayfield works toward playing vs Oklahoma St
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield has shown signs since his concussion that he could be ready for Saturday's pivotal game against Oklahoma State.
Mayfield took a helmet-to-helmet hit from TCU linebacker Ty Summers early in the second quarter of last Saturday's 30-29 win over TCU. Mayfield finished out the quarter, but didn't play in the second half after acknowledging he had a headache. Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said Monday that the Heisman hopeful has checked out well since then and plans called for him to do some light work at practice later in the day.
"If he continues this way with no issues, like he's had yesterday and so far today, then he is expected to play," Stoops said. "If he has a setback in any way with the protocol and the testing that our doctors and trainers do, he will not. To this point, it has all checked out well."
Mayfield said the headache went away right after halftime after he took a Tylenol.
"I haven't had a headache since Saturday, so I feel like I'm progressing," he said.
Oklahoma's head athletic trainer, Scott Anderson, said Mayfield is trending in the right direction.
"There's certainly room for optimism, but we do have a protocol we have to go through — some serial testing and progressions of activity, and we're in the midst of that now," Anderson said.
Mayfield's availability could alter the college football landscape. Oklahoma led TCU 23-7 at halftime, but struggled after Trevor Knight took over at quarterback, and the Sooners barely hung on. Fifth-ranked Oklahoma (10-1, 7-1 Big 12) can clinch the Big 12 conference title with a victory over the ninth-ranked Cowboys (10-1, 7-1).
Mayfield has completed 69 percent of his passes, with 32 touchdowns and five interceptions. He also has 343 yards rushing and six TDs. He has made numerous electrifying plays scrambling, and that puts him at more risk.
"We'll talk to Baker about avoiding as many hits as he can, but he's fairly stubborn," Stoops said. "Hopefully, he'll go down when he can, get out of bounds when he can and avoid some of that."
Mayfield said he won't change, and that taking such hits are a risk that come with playing the sport.
"It wasn't like I got hit on a tackle where I should have slid," he said. "It was a guy that kind of turned me around, and then I got hit on the way down. It's not like it was my style of play that got me injured. It was a freaky hit."
Mayfield said he had a concussion five years earlier in high school, but that one was more severe. He understood why he was taken out of Saturday's game, but it was tough to watch from the sideline as the Sooners struggled.
"They're being careful, and they care about my safety first, so I'm going to roll with that, even though I didn't agree with it at the time at all," he said. "I have to understand that they're doing their job, and I've got to follow that."
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