It's looking more and more likely that Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel will lose his biggest target at wide receiver this week, as freshman Ricky Seals-Jones may be medically redshirted.
TAMU coach Kevin Sumlin said on his Tuesday radio show that Seals-Jones, one of the nation's most heralded freshmen, is dealing with an ongoing knee problem that may end his season prematurely, according to mysanantonio.com.
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"He was in there a little bit (against Alabama), but his knee is kind of bothering him, and we're going to do what's best for him," Sumlin said. "He's injured and he tried to go a little bit on Saturday and it's still not right. So we're looking at it from a medical standpoint -- he's either going to play up to a certain point in time, which is now, or he gets a medical redshirt."
What's tricky about the decision for Sumlin is the NCAA rule regarding medical redshirts. A player who has participated in fewer than 30 percent of the games in a season is eligible for a medical redshirt, which saves a year of eligibility. Seals-Jones, if medically redshirted, would still have four years of eligibility left after this season. However, if a player participates in more than 30 percent of a team's regular-season games, he does not qualify for the medical redshirt, in which case Seals-Jones would return next year as a sophomore.
Seals-Jones appeared in TAMU's opener against Rice, scoring a 71-yard touchdown catch, sat out the Sam Houston State game, but appeared briefly against Alabama. That means he can only participate in one more game, which would be his third, and still be eligible for a medical redshirt. A fourth game would represent 33 percent of TAMU's 12-game season.
That means the SMU game this week could be his last, if the Alabama game wasn't.
"That's an ongoing conversation at this point. We're doing everything that's right for him because he is a special talent. For him to lose a year if something is not correct and he's not comfortable ... we're not going to do that."
Follow Chase Goodbread on Twitter @ChaseGoodbread.
