Fresno State returns to practice but QB Jake Haener is out. Should Bulldogs fans worry?
The Fresno State Bulldogs returned to the practice field, on a bye following a rough loss at Hawaii. But quarterback Jake Haener was held out Thursday and again Friday, his right foot in a protective boot.
“Just getting a little break and trying to get my body back to feeling good again, taking some time off while I have it,” said Haener, who has absorbed some big hits while hitting 69.5% of his passes and averaging 371.7 yards per game, fourth-best in the nation.
The boot stemmed from a hit low and late in the third quarter at Hawaii when Rainbow Warriors safety Quentin Frazier rolled into him and sent him tumbling over backward. Frazier was penalized for roughing the passer on the play, one of three called on Hawaii, and Haener sat out the remainder of that series.
He was helped off the field, but returned for the next drive.
The Bulldogs (4-2, 1-1 in the Mountain West) will hold a short practice Sunday, then get into a normal game week on Tuesday preparing for an Oct. 16 game at Wyoming. Haener is expected to be there.
“We’ll get him back next week and get a full week of preparation and it will be all good,” coach Kalen DeBoer said. “We all know he’s as tough as they come. The toughness and the competitiveness, all the heart that he has, there’s no question he’s working hard to be ready to go and have a full week of practice.”
The boot, Haener said, was more of a preventative measure with, still, three days before he needs to be with the No. 1 offense for game prep and the goal all along for the bye has been simply to get healthy.
“Just get my body back, playable and feeling good again,” he said. “I’ve been going through a couple of things the last couple weeks trying to get my body, just being able to play. This bye week has been much needed for me to try to get my body back to playing shape and feeling good.”
The Bulldogs quarterback has been dealing with a hip injury, now the foot.
But there is no question about the heart, or the head after throwing four interceptions in the loss to the Rainbow Warriors. The Bulldogs, who were ranked No. 18 at kickoff, had a 14-point lead going into the fourth quarter, but were outscored 17-0 over the final 12-plus minutes and lost 27-24.
Haener hit just 28 of 50 passes, his lowest completion percentage in a game (56%) since his first Fresno State start when he was 17 of 31 (54.6%) also in a loss to Hawaii. In the fourth quarter, he was just 5 of 15.
“That’s what we’re here for as coaches, to help them get through it,” DeBoer said. “He’s a strong-minded guy. It certainly hurts. It hurts him. It hurts everyone involved. But that’s what a team is all about. That’s what coaches are here for. We’re a support system to each other.
“There’s never going to be a question that he’s not giving everything he has. That’s never going to be the case. When that’s the situation, we can be critical of ourselves, but we’re never going to question the effort and the work that goes into it. He just wants to keep striving to get better, learn from it and move on, because that’s all you can do.”