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    • Doctor says IU QB healing should take 7-10 days
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    Doctor says IU QB healing should take 7-10 days

    Kathleen William Posted on

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    INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana quarterback Kurtis Rourke should have a good chance of regaining normal function in his throwing hand in less than two weeks, according to a local doctor.

    Pat Kersey, a sports medicine physician at Ascension St. Vincent, is based in Carmel and has been following Rourke's injury since it occurred against Nebraska. He is a graduate of Indiana University School of Medicine but is not on the IU football team and has not examined Rourke.

    “As far as tearing and removing a bed of nails, that can happen, very often a throwing athlete, like a quarterback, hits the bed of nails against a face mask or helmet,” Kersey told IndyStar. “And unfortunately it can get under the nail and pull off the nail bed, so to speak.”

    Rourke hit Nebraska's MJ Sherman's helmet with his thumb, and it looked like his nail went into Sherman's helmet.

    Update on Kurtis Rourke’s injury: IU football QB Kurtis Rourke is undergoing surgery for a thumb injury and may be back for Michigan State

    “They probably had to do what's called a surgical nail bed repair, where they actually had to close the nail bed component to allow the new nail to grow in adequately as it grows in. It can also be an area where you can get infected, so that's probably the nature of this surgical procedure,” Kersey said. “It definitely needs to heal a little bit. The other part of this is that it's probably a good indicator that he didn't have a fracture, that the bone or the end of his thumb wasn't broken. Healing would take significantly longer and it would be difficult for a quarterback to grab a football.”

    The repair is a type of surgical procedure that anyone, athlete or not, would have to perform if they tore their nail bed, Kersey added, to prevent infection and reduce sensitivity.

    A typical recovery timeline for this type of surgery fits in with IU hoping he can return on Nov. 2 – 11 days after his procedure. Rouke will likely be dealing with sensitivity in his thumb rather than pain, and that sensitivity should ease enough by November. This injury does not typically affect grip or pressure sensation in the thumb, even long-term, Kersey said.

    “It's difficult to answer based on individual people's sensitivity, but typically after a period of about five, eight or 10 days, this type of sensation and pressure will feel completely normal again,” Kersey said. “…Pretty sure once he can start grabbing a Nerf ball or things that are a little easier to compress, he'll do that pretty quickly.”

    The rehab schedule is pretty quick too. Rourke will likely do gripping exercises with his throwing hand, starting with objects that are easier to squeeze, then moving on to firmer objects until he gets to a regular football.

    Rourke will continue to struggle with the ingrowth of his thumbnail for a while, as it will take months for it to fully grow in. But the nail (or lack thereof) shouldn't really affect his game after nail bed surgery, Kersey said.

    “Since he will likely only need to undergo a nail bed repair, which is generally similar to a skin-only repair, and will probably heal well within 7 to 10 days, he should and could return to mostly normal function,” Kersey said.

    Indiana quarterback Kurtis Rourke injured

    IU football coach Curt Cignetti said, “He had his thumb on his helmet, the nail somehow came off.” Images from Saturday's television broadcast showed Rourke's thumb bleeding and him finishing the second part of the 56-7 victory over Nebraska with black tape on it his hand.

    Kurtis Rourke design

    Early mock drafts placed Rourke in the second tier of quarterback prospects for the 2025 NFL Draft. He doesn't have the arm strength of the quarterbacks before him, but he excels at the position's more subtle skills.

    Kurtis Rourke brother

    Kurtis Rourke's brother is Nathan Rourke, who preceded him as quarterback at Ohio University and currently plays in the Canadian Football League with the British Columbia Lions. He completed 136 of 209 passes (65.1%) for 1,781 yards with four touchdowns and nine interceptions during the 2024 season.

    Kurtis Rourke statistics

    Rourke has completed 74.6% of his passes for 1,941 yards with 15 touchdowns and 3 interceptions.

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    Kathleen William
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