The University of Texas Longhorns football program announced on Tuesday morning that junior quarterback Garrett Gilbert has undergone season-ending shoulder surgery.
"The injury appeared to occur during the Rice game," Texas Head Athletic Trainer for Football Kenny Boyd said. "He had symptoms, but was not affected in practice leading up to BYU. After that, it got progressively worse. We did an MRI on the shoulder last week, and after our medical staff looked at the results, we recommended that he have surgery. He spent some time talking with his family and they agreed that was the route they wanted to go."
Gilbert did not show any signs of injury during the Rice game, nor in his next start against BYU, when he was pulled from the game after throwing his second interception -- on a deep ball that had plenty of distance, making it difficult to know how much his shoulder was bothering him. Whatever the extent of this injury, the decision to shut down 2011 and have surgery should give Gilbert a chance to secure a medical redshirt. Assuming he wants to transfer to another school after this season, that would give him two remaining years of eligibility.
In any case, Gilbert is by all accounts a great kid and teammate and we'll be wishing him well whatever is next for him. If his career at Texas is over, he will depart with a final stat line of 305 completions in 537 attempts (57%) for 3,301 yards, 13 TDs and 23 INTs.