Beathard health watch

IOWA CITY - It's a good thing that C.J. Beathard is a good-natured, congenial young person. Since after the Pitt game in September, Iowa's junior quarterback has been asked about his health.

That's almost a month and a half of questions for 20 or minutes every Tuesday about a groin injury. This will either prepare him for life as an NFL quarterback or a politician.

He's gracious, goes as far as he can with the answers and, on this Tuesday, even laughed a little about it.

'It's been three and a half weeks I've been answering these questions, so it's kind of routine now,” Beathard said. 'I know how to answer these questions. It's kind of the same as it's been. Yeah, that's just how it is.”

And then the smile.

This won't stem the questions, but in the Maryland postgame, Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said it's going to be this way for Beathard the rest of the season. With the injury and bootlegs and moving pockets out of the playbook, Beathard is now a pocket passer.

That hasn't changed the outlook for No. 11 Iowa (8-0, 4-0 Big Ten) going into this weekend's game against Indiana (4-4, 0-4).

'I'm planning on C.J. being in there,” Ferentz said. 'That's my plan, and I think that's his plan, too. That's not only this week but the rest of the season.”

Does a Beathard without the mobility change anything for the offensive line? No. Really, the plan with the O-line is to never allow the QB to be hit. That remains the plan, of course.

'The plays are the plays,” center Austin Blythe said. 'A pass play is a pass play. We never really know if C.J. takes off until he's past the line of scrimmage. Same mentality. C.J. will run if he has to, he's a tough guy. Everything is the same.”

Here's the rundown from Tuesday's update:

- If it looked as if Beathard could've run for 100 yards against Maryland, it's because he might've been able to. There were big, open lanes, particularly in the second half when Iowa could've used a few first downs.

But when Beathard went to hit the gas . . .

'Obviously, there were times in the game where I wish I could've tucked it down and ran with it a little bit,” said Beathard, who was sacked four times and held to negative rushing yards for the first time this season (minus-14). 'A couple of times I did do that and it just didn't feel right. I just kind of got down a couple of times. I just didn't feel full speed.

'It's frustrating, but that's how it is right now.”

- Beathard has maintained all along that it's something with his hip/groin area. Is it something the medical staff feels won't get worse while playing?

'That's my mindset,” he said. 'Obviously, if they thought it was something that was going to be a career-ending injury, I wouldn't be out there playing. I think the most I can do right now is just keep tweaking it, which is what I'm doing and it's setting me back a little bit, but by the end of game week, I'm almost up to . . . I'm able to play.”

- Conversely, is it something that could go 'pop” at anytime?

'I don't know, it's hard to tell exactly what it is right now,” Beathard said. 'I know that even if I was feeling better than I do now, almost 100 percent, anything could pop and I could hurt it. That's a possibility, but hopefully, that doesn't happen.”

- And that is the pattern. Beathard builds it up, plays and then tears it all down. This is how it's been portrayed by Iowa and head coach Kirk Ferentz to TV production crews, which meet with Iowa staff on Fridays.

Against Northwestern, Ferentz told TV Beathard was 50 percent. Last week, it was reps in practice that were barely above walk-through level.

What will it be this week? Perhaps an electric wheelchair thingie?

'No, no, probably not,” Beathard said with a laugh. 'Let's hope not. I'm definitely walking around all right. I'm not 100 percent, but I'm able to do stuff in practice.”

- So, worst-case scenario. Beathard has something go 'pop” and Iowa is then forced to turn to redshirt freshman Tyler Wiegers. Can he keep this thing going?

Of course, the thing that Wiegers would be charged with keeping going is a team that's No. 11 in the nation.

You probably remember in 2009, when starting QB Ricky Stanzi suffered an ankle injury and redshirt freshman James Vandenberg had to jump into a game against Northwestern. Vandenberg had very few reps, looked unprepared and Iowa had an undefeated season go up in flames.

With Beathard being held back in a lot of what he's been able to do in practice, Wiegers has been able to increase quality practice repetitions with the first-team.

'We're judicious with his (Beathard's) reps right now,” Ferentz said. 'So it's given Tyler more of an opportunity to work with the first group. That's always a healthy thing. Things look a lot different when you get into another huddle. He's doing a good job. That's a benefit of somebody being out.”

Does Beathard feel as if Wiegers could keep this thing going?

'I've got faith in Tyler, he's a smart kid,” Beathard said. 'He's young and still learning, but he's doing a great job right now. He's getting more reps than normal and that's good, it'll help him progress as a player.

'I'm not going to force anything. If I feel like I can't play, I'm not going to try to force it. That's not helpful to our team, either. I think Tyler would be just fine if he had to go in there.”

l Comments: (319) 398-8256; marc.morehouse@thegazette.com