Pain in Clay's neck could become pain in Sooners'
Published: 8/24/2011 9:57 AM
Last Modified: 8/24/2011 9:57 AM
Right now, the most important body part on the Oklahoma Sooners (aside from Landry Jones' right arm) is Travis Lewis' toe. Just the same, you might want to keep tabs on Brennan Clay's neck.
It's bothering him, for good reason.
"I have a pinched nerve," Clay said.
Doesn't sound like too big a deal? Well, you should know something.
"If I take the wrong hit this whole side of my body (the left side) shuts down and I can't feel my fingers," Clay said. "It's kind of scary how something so small can do so much."
Carrying the ball for OU is tough enough. Remember the knockout shot Clay took against Florida State last year?
Imagine doing so with a pinched nerve in your neck.
"It's like waking up with the worst kink ever," Clay said. "Or it's like a stinger times three. That's pretty much what it feels like. It sucks, but I'm getting better. I'll be all right."
He's getting all of the help he can from trainers.
"They're working on it," Clay said. "They said something is pressing the nerve and it's just irritated. They're trying to relieve the muscle a little bit and trying to protect me right now. I've got one of these build-ups (a set of shoulder pads especially equipped to protect the neck region) so I'm able to take more of a hit."
Clay says his condition has cost him just one day of preseason camp so far.
"I took a nice shot running into one of my linemen," he said. "That tweaked it. It was killing me the rest of the day."
Otherwise, he's managing.
Colts quarterback Peyton Manning put up with irritation for four years before undergoing neck surgery for a pinched nerve last year. Clay said he's nowhere near considering that course of action (from the Columbia University Department of Neurological Surgery web page: "If the problem is new, surgeons usually won't operate until a course of rest, medications and physical therapy have been tried.")
"I'm working on it every day. I feel the more I work on it, the more it stays away," Clay said. "It's just aggravating."
You bet it is. Clay is expected to be one of OU's feature backs now that DeMarco Murray is a Dallas Cowboy. The Sooners need him healthy, and that could become a hit-or-miss situation. Literally.
-- Guerin Emig
Written by
Guerin Emig
Sports Writer
