Just as Wisconsin was building momentum in what ended up being a 38-17 loss to Michigan, QB Graham Mertz took a hard hit to the chest area that pulled him out of the game in the third quarter.
Mertz’s day was done, and he was transported to a local hospital for further examination. He was cleared to leave that same night, and was back on his feet today during Wisconsin’s Monday press conference. While the Badgers listed him as questionable on the initial injury report for the Illinois game this weekend, there is reason to be hopeful based on what head coach Paul Chryst and Mertz himself had to say today.
“Obviously right when it happened you get the initial taking him in and taking a look at him,” said Chryst on Monday. “At some point, they needed to go to the hospital to get a better evaluation… I had a chance to speak with him Saturday night and obviously saw him yesterday. All the tests, I’ve gotta be careful because I’m not a doctor, he’s good that way and was good today and obviously we’ll get him through the week and kinda see, as much as we do on Monday we’ll do on Tuesday.”
During Monday’s press conference, Mertz seemed to be in good spirits surrounding the injury. Courtesy of FOX 47 Madison sports director Zach Hanley, here is a look at the starting quarterback’s answer when asked about his injury:
Good to go?
Graham Mertz says he "feels good" two days after leaving in the 3rd quarter with a chest injury. #Badgers officially listed their QB1 as questionable 5 days out from Illinois. pic.twitter.com/17QFPI0lRv
— Zach Hanley (@ZachHanley2) October 4, 2021
Stay tuned to BadgersWire throughout the week as more updates become available on Mertz’s status.