Rogers leaves hospital

PULLMAN – The news concerning Gary Rogers is promising.

The senior Washington State quarterback awoke Sunday, moved all his limbs and left Pullman Regional Hospital at about noon under his own power, only a hard collar and some pain as reminders of the stable cervical spine fracture he suffered Saturday night against Portland State.

“He’s doing very well,” said WSU trainer Bill Drake, who explained Rogers’ injury as a small C7 fracture, a non-displaced break of the seventh bone from the base of the skull. There is no spinal cord or neurological damage.

“He’ll wear the hard collar for six weeks,” Drake said, giving the fracture time to heal. After that, Rogers will undergo rehabilitation for three or four months. At that point, his football future will be evaluated.

“We’ll hold off ruling on all that until the healing is complete,” Drake said.

WSU coach Paul Wulff visited with Rogers and his family Saturday night and said Rogers was “obviously disappointed and sad, but thankful, too.”

Rogers was injured in the third quarter of the Cougars’ 48-9 win over Portland State when he was whacked by safety Aaron Dickson, who was flagged for a late hit.

“It wasn’t extremely late, but it was late and it was a foul,” Wulff said. “It really wasn’t necessary. That’s all I can say. It wasn’t an actual cheap shot, it was just a late hit.”

The nature of the hit, though late, wasn’t overly vicious, Wulff said, and that contributed to his surprise at the extent of Rogers’ injury.

“I was very stunned,” Wulff said. “A lot of that was based on the type of hit he took. It didn’t look like it was a blow to the neck or the head, that region.

“We knew he had all his feeling when he was on the ground … so it just didn’t feel like it would be this.”

Rogers’ was the most severe, but his wasn’t the only injury suffered by a Cougar quarterback Saturday night. Starter Kevin Lopina left before halftime with a right shoulder bruise and didn’t return.

Sunday he was sore, but was suffering only from a deep shoulder bruise. His return is day-to-day.

“He’s got some pieces… that are tender and sore,” Wulff said. “We’re hoping he can improve throughout the week.”

With Lopina’s status for Saturday’s homecoming game with Oregon questionable, redshirt freshman Marshall Lobbestael got all the snaps at Sunday’s practice.

Though Lobbestael was 9 of 12 for 149 yards and two touchdowns in his relief appearance against the Vikings, Wulff still isn’t sure what he’ll get if Lobbestael is forced to start against the Ducks.

“We’re still finding that out,” Wulff said of Lobbestael’s strengths. “You can tell he’s got a little bit of moxie and he’s got some competitiveness to him.

“I’m a believer in Marshall. I know he’s got a chance to be a good player.”

It’s a belief built in the video room as well as on the field.

“He hasn’t had a lot of opportunity physically, but he takes notes, he studies film every day and he’s really mentally in it,” Wulff said. “When his opportunity did present itself, he did a nice job.”