Cal's Jaivian Thomas May Play Saturday, Three Weeks After Scary Injury

When Cal freshman running back Jaivian Thomas was carefully loaded onto a cart, his head strapped to a board after lying motionless on the field for 15 minutes while medical personnel frantically attended to him, thoughts on that November 5 afternoon were whether he had suffered a life-changing injury and perhaps whether he would ever set foot on a football field again.

The notion that he might play again this season was not a consideration.

So it comes as a delightful surprise that he may play in the Bears’ regular-season finale against UCLA on Saturday, just three weeks after the game against Oregon when he was taken to the hospital for an injury that appeared at the time to be extremely serious.

On Tuesday, Cal head coach Justin Wilcox said Thomas and inside linebacker Cade Uluave are practicing this week, and described their status this way: “Day-to-day, but optimistic they will return for the weekend.”

That certainly sounds like Uluave and Thomas probably will play in Saturday night’s game against the Bruins (7-4).

The news that Uluave has a good chance to play is encouraging, because he has played at a high level and the Bears are 9.5-point underdogs against UCLA in a game Cal needs to win to become bowl-eligible.

But the news on Thomas is uplifting on a different level. The fact that he is healthy enough to return to practice this week is one thing, but the fact that he is willing to get back on the field so soon after a scary injury is more noteworthy.

“It’s pretty surprising,” Cal offensive coordinator Jake Spavital said of Thomas’ possible return in the video atop this story. “You know, unfortunately I’ve kind of been a part of those kind of scenarios before in my coaching career, and those kids get rattled from an experience like that.”

The Bears presumably don’t want Jadyn Ott to carry the ball 36 times against UCLA as he did against Stanford. The Bruins lead the nation in run defense, and with backup Cal running back Isaiah Ifanse questionable for Saturday’s game, Thomas may get some meaningful snaps. And his playing time and production had been increasing before suffering the injury.

“[Thomas] wants to be back, this game means a lot to him,” Spavital said. “He was making such great progress to that point, and unfortunately that event occurred, and that kind of scares a lot of people at times. But Jaivian, he’s a resilient guy, man, and I just think that the culture we have around here and how everybody is very comforting and supporting him, that he’s kind of easing his way back into it.

“So we’ll see where it goes, but it’s just really good to see him running around out there after a scare like that.”

Thomas, who attended McClymonds High School in Oakland, has rushed for 110 yards and averaged 6.1 yards per carry this season. His playing time was increasing leading up to the game against Oregon when he got hurt, and he had caught a touchdown pass the previous week against USC.

And maybe, just maybe, he will carry the ball against the Bruins.

Wilcox discusses Cal's injuries as they apply to Saturday night game:

Cover photo of Jaivian Thomas after he scored a touchdown against USC is by Darren Yamashita, USA TODAY Sports

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