As Iowa (3-2, 1-1 Big Ten) readies for its rivalry date at Wisconsin (2-3, 0-2 Big Ten), the biggest story for the Hawkeyes is whether or not starting quarterback Mark Gronowski will be able to return from injury.
Gronowski suffered a left knee injury late against Indiana and missed the game’s final three offensive series. While anything definitive has been tough to come by, CBS insider Matt Zenitz reported on Saturday that Gronowski’s injury wasn’t considered long-term or season-ending. Then, On3’s Pete Nakos reported on Monday that Gronowski was viewed as “day-to-day.”
On Tuesday, Iowa head football coach Kirk Ferentz confirmed that Gronowski has returned to practice.
“Regarding Mark, so far, so good. It’s been encouraging certainly. He’s gotten some good work in. A week ago, I wasn’t so optimistic, but we’ll just take it as it goes this week. Right now, we’re working all three of the guys, but again he worked well today, so we’ll see how it all goes along as we move along here,” Ferentz said.
Asked to describe what the last week has looked like for Gronowski and whether or not he has been a full-go, Ferentz shared another encouraging update for Hawkeye fans.
“No, he just basically practiced. We weren’t running any quarterback runs with him or anything like that, but he just had a normal day. I don’t know if his car’s out there right now, but I see it out there a lot, at least I have the last nine days.
“We’re not making him pay taxes or anything like that, but he’s in the building an awful lot. He’s just wearing out the training staff, but testing came back positive. That was the most important thing. Got that Monday I guess it would have been. So, that was a start. And then, basically it’s just what he can do and how fast he can progress and I know he’s doing every bit he can from that standpoint and the medical staff’s doing a great job working with him. Pleasantly surprised, quite frankly. So, I’m not saying I wasn’t going to be optimistic, but, you know, you’re always concerned when a guy has an injury,” Ferentz said.
While it’s far from anything definitive, Iowa fans will be happy to know that Gronowski is a legitimate possibility against Wisconsin.
If Gronowski doesn’t play, Iowa listed Hank Brown and Jeremy Hecklinski as co-backups in its depth chart versus Wisconsin.
Contact/Follow us @HawkeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Iowa news, notes and opinions. Follow Josh on X: @JoshOnHawks
This article originally appeared on Hawkeyes Wire: Iowa football comments on injury progression of QB Mark Gronowski
