Vanderbilt Quarterback Jared Curtis is Back Against Ole Miss

NASHVILLE—Jared Curtis is back.

After missing Vanderbilt’s loss to Georgia in Athens a week ago and popping up on the injury report again this week, Curtis took Vanderbilt’s first offensive snap of the week at quarterback on Saturday. That was no surprise because Curtis was pulled off of the injury report late in the week after being labeled as probable all week.

Curtis was dealing with a knee bruise ahead of the Georgia game after taking a hit in Vanderbilt’s week four loss to Auburn--in which he made his first SEC start and road start. Now, though, he appears to be healthy enough to go. Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea appears to believe Curtis is better off for what he went through.

“I actually see it as part of his development, like an important part of his development,” Lea said. “Here’s a guy that was just gutted to not play. I thought he was an incredible teammate Saturday, which is no surprise. He wanted to be out there to the point of emotion and yet he also knew that it wasn’t the right thing and that Blaze [Berlowitz] gave us the best chance in that game. So what a great lesson for him.”

In Curtis, Vanderbilt has the first five-star recruit in program history and believes it has the quarterback of the future. He flipped his commitment from Georgia to Vanderbilt on National Signing Day and beat out veteran Blaze Berlowitz in an open quarterback competition. Now, there's no doubt that this is Curtis' team. The only thing up in the air is whether Curtis is healthy enough right now. Curtis is wearing a knee brace under his tights today.

Curtis was a true game-time decision a week ago and went through a number of individual tests in which he stretched, tested his start-stop ability and his straight-line running ability prior to Vanderbilt's matchup against Georgia. When Curtis finished, he stood at the 20-yard line talking with a trainer for a few minutes. Curtis also threw passes to Vanderbilt receivers at midfield pregame. But, Vanderbilt determined that he wasn't healthy enough to see the field.

“I’m encouraged by his progress,” Lea said Tuesday in a statement that appears to be holding up now. “Just like anything, it’s one thing to go into practice to be able to participate. It’s another thing to then see how your body recovers and how you feel the next day.”

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