PJ Fleck says Athan Kaliakmanis didn't suffer major injury

A sigh of relief for Minnesota.
PJ Fleck says Athan Kaliakmanis didn't suffer major injury
PJ Fleck says Athan Kaliakmanis didn't suffer major injury /

Athan Kaliakmanis doesn't appear to have suffered a severe injury in Minnesota's 28-20 win over Syracuse in the Pinstripe Bowl on Thursday. 

The freshman quarterback who is considered by most to be QB on the rise in the Big Ten, suffered an apparent leg or foot injury during the second quarter. He took a low hit to his left side after completing a 12-yard pass to Le'Meke Brockington to convert a 3rd-and-8. 

He was helped off the field by two trainers and then helped by teammates to the locker room and he didn't return to the game. He was shown on the sidelines in the second half wearing a walking boot. 

Head coach P.J. Fleck didn't talk specifics about the injury, but said afterward that it was "not minor but not major." He said if the injury had happened in the regular season, Kaliakmanis probably would miss a couple weeks. 

Being spared a more catastrophic injury like a torn ACL is a big boost for Minnesota because there is early talk about a more aggressive passing attack with Kaliakmanis in 2023, perhaps similar to the potent attack that saw Tanner Morgan and wide receivers Tyler Johnson and Rashod Bateman dominate en route to Minnesota winning 11 games in 2019. 

Kaliakmanis will have fresh weapons to work with. Not only is Chris Autman-Bell returning on a medical exemption, but tight end Brevyn Spann-Ford has announced he'll return next season. Throw in highly-touted transfers Elijah Spencer and Corey Crooms and all of a sudden Minnesota has a dynamic group of receivers. 

Related: The 5 highest-rated players to commit to Gophers on signing day


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Joe Nelson
JOE NELSON

Title: Bring Me The Sports co-owner, editor Email: joe@bringmethenews.com Twitter: @JoeBMTN Education: Southwest Minnesota State University Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota Expertise: All things Minnesota sports Nelson has covered Minnesota sports for two decades, starting his media career in sports radio. He worked at small market Minnesota stations in Marshall and St. Cloud before joining one of the nation's highest-rated sports stations, KFAN-FM 100.3 in the Twin Cities. There, he was the producer of the top-rated mid-morning sports show with Minnesota Vikings announcer Paul Allen.  His radio experience helped blossom a career as a sports writer, joining Minneapolis-based Bring Me The News in 2011.  Nelson and Adam Uren became co-owners of Bring Me The News in 2018 and have since more than tripled the site's traffic and launched Bring Me The Sports in cooperation with the Sports Illustrated/FanNation umbrella. Nelson has covered the Super Bowl and numerous training camps, NFL combines, the MLB All-Star Game and Minnesota playoff games, in addition to the day-to-day happenings on and off the field of play.  Nelson also has extensive knowledge of non-sports subjects, including news and weather. He works closely with Bring Me The News meteorologist Sven Sundgaard to produce a bevy of weather and climate information for Minnesota readers.  Nelson helped launch and manage the Bring Me The News Radio Network, which provided more than 50 radio stations around Minnesota with daily news, sports and weather reports from 2011-17.