How Oklahoma QB John Mateer is Seeing His Teammates Through 'a Different Lens'

Some elite athletes simply don’t handle being injured.

They go their whole athletic career healthy and performing and dominating on the field of competition, but then when the inevitable happens, they’re suddenly faced with new, unknowns emotional challenges.

Not John Mateer.

The Oklahoma quarterback has thrown himself into the role of recovering patient — maybe because he trusts his team of doctors and therapists and knows, without any doubt, that he’ll be back soon — and maybe better than ever.

Oklahoma Sooners, John Matee — Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer is set to miss the Sooners' upcoming game with Kent State due to a hand injury. | BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

As Mateer sits out following surgery last week to repair a broken thumb, he has gained a new perspective on a lot of things — such as himself.

OU is 4-0 under Mateer and during last week’s idle weekend climbed to No. 5 in this week’s Associated Press top 25. But the injury he suffered in the first quarter of the Sooners’ last game against Auburn has shed a new light on Mateer’s place in the sports universe.

Head coach Brent Venables used a segment Monday on his coach’s show to illustrate the point.

Venables said he asked his team leadership council of about 30 players to “put ink to paper” their thoughts on a variety of topics. One of those, Venables said, was for each player to write down “what you're learning how to do and trying to work on yourself and get better, and being intentional about it.

“One of the things he did was just looking at things from a different lens and watching his teammates compete, learn, improve. He watches the coaches and how they're installing and teaching and trying to grow that way. Just, you know, take a different type of a lens, and it was really interesting, the things that he put on paper.

“Just, he's got a wise, older soul to him, which is, I think, something that's — even though he's just had a year and a few games of experience as a full time starter in college football, he's got wisdom beyond his years.”

The fourth-year junior from Little Elm, TX, joined the Sooners in December as a transfer from Washington State. He followed Cougars offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle, whom Venables hired after the conclusion of the 2024 regular season. Arbuckle coached OU quarterbacks in the Armed Forces Bowl against Navy, and true freshman Michael Hawkins Jr. had a good start and strong finish before the Sooners lost at the end.

Now, as Mateer gets healthy, it’s Hawkins who will start this week against Kent State and, more than likely, next week against Texas.

Oklahoma Sooners, Michael Hawkins Jr — Oklahoma quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. (3) is set to take over in Mateer's absence. | Kyle Ross-Imagn Images

And that’s given Arbuckle a chance to see his quarterback from a different perspective: injured but supportive teammates who can’t wait to get healthy again.

Arbuckle said he previously got to see Mateer as an eager learner when he was behind Cam Ward at WSU and how he supported Ward. Now he’s seeing that relationship develop between Mateer and Hawkins.

“I got to see Cam and John’s relationship and how Cam interacted with John whenever he was the backup quarterback and the questions and everything that John would have for him and how Cam would answer them,” Arbuckle said.

“I think that stuck with John. I think John knows that, ’It’s not all about me,’ you know? ‘I’ve got to make sure that I’m making everyone better.’ I think that’s the mark of a great leader and a great player is you’re making everyone better, even the guys in your position room. And the cool thing about Mike is he’s absorbed it. It’s really been fun to see their relationship really grow.”

When Mateer’s thumb mends, he’ll be back — Venables seems to think that could happen sooner than anyone expects.

“He's a guy you gotta kind of pull back,” Venables said. “ … He's going to push the limits on everything when it comes to his rehab and getting back. And at the same time, I told him, ‘You're not going to defy the odds. In some ways, there's certain protocols that, at least for the interim here at the beginning, that you need to let those things heal and that kind of thing.

“But he'll be good. And as soon as somebody can come back, he'll be one of those guys that that was, you know, he broke the record, if you will, for coming back.”

“He understands his body,” Arbuckle said. “He understands the recovery process and everything, and he’s going to stick to that process, and if there’s a gray area, he may trend more toward the darker shade of the gray than the lighter shade of gray in the recovery. But that just stems from him being a competitor and wanting to be the best player, best person and most ready for his teammates as possible.”