Tulsa World: Gresham won't return next season to OU, Stoops says

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Gresham won't return next season to OU, Stoops says

It appears Jermaine Gresham's final game with OU was the BCS Championship in January. TULSA WORLD FILE

By GUERIN EMIG, World Sports Writer
Published: 9/29/2009 12:52 PM
Last Modified: 9/29/2009 2:41 PM

Sports Editor Mike Strain’s blog: Second-guessing Sam becomes a national past time.

NORMAN -- Bob Stoops broke some news at his press conference Tuesday afternoon. But it wasn’t about Sam Bradford.

“Jermaine’s going to go into the draft,” Stoops said of Jermaine Gresham, the Oklahoma tight end who is out for the season with a knee injury.

Gresham is a fourth-year senior who could have used a medical redshirt to return in 2010. That, however, would mean passing on the NFL a second straight time.

He was widely considered a first-round draft prospect after his All-American junior season, but chose to return to OU. Despite injuring his knee the week of the Sooners’ season-opener against BYU, he is listed as the No. 20 overall pro prospect by ESPN draft analyst Mel Kiper.

As to Bradford and whether he’ll return to quarterback Saturday night’s game at Miami, Stoops continued what has become a daily ritual.

“I’d love to give you an answer so I don’t have to answer it the entire week, but it’s too early to give the answer,” the coach said Tuesday. “I’m not able to give the answer yet, until we see what Sam’s capable of throughout the week. Is he able to make all the throws? Is he able to do it without too much soreness? How does he react the next day? All of those things need to be determined, and they won’t be determined until we get later in the week, probably sometime Thursday or Friday, and maybe Saturday depending on how it goes.”

The Sooners’ original estimated recovery time for Bradford’s injured shoulder was 2-4 weeks. Saturday marks the four-week point from the sprained AC joint Bradford sustained against BYU.

“He has not had any setbacks,” Stoops said. “That’s positive in that everything to this point that he has done he has handled in a positive way and he has made daily progress. That part is encouraging. But it’s just too early to determine his status for Saturday.”

Redshirt freshman Landry Jones will start his third straight game if Bradford can’t go. He is 49-of-81 for 673 yards, nine touchdowns and three interceptions since replacing Bradford for the second half of the BYU loss.

“We are confident and excited about what Landry has been able to do to this point,” Stoops said Tuesday. “He continues to just be more and more comfortable, and has executed and handled himself incredibly well. That gives you a good feeling regardless of Sam’s situation.”

Stoops reiterated that he isn’t withholding information to keep Miami’s defensive coaches guessing.

“They’ve watched us the last two weeks without Sam, and in the end we’re not a different offense,” he said. “I don’t see that being a big deal.”

Asked if he has ruled out using both Bradford and Jones Saturday, Stoops said: “I haven’t ruled anything out. Everything’s still in play.”

Stoops did set some parameters for Bradford’s return, saying: “The doctors feel he’s safe to play. Two, that Sam feels confident that he can play and play at a winning level. And us evaluating through practice that he can play at that level.”

By GUERIN EMIG, World Sports Writer

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COMMENTS

Reader comments for this story have been moved to the most updated version of the story, now under the headline "Pros and cons on draft," which was published on 9/30/2009. So far, 17 comments have been made.

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