C.J. Beathard gritted his teeth through Iowa’s historic 12-0 regular season. The Hawkeye quarterback didn’t miss a game all season, despite the fact that he was dealing with a groin injury throughout B1G play.

Beathard was hoping to let it heal during the offseason. But before he entered spring camp, the decision was made to pull the trigger on surgery.

According to the Cedar Rapids Gazette, Beathard underwent “very successful” sports hernia surgery last week. It was reportedly performed by the renowned Dr. William C. Meyers in Philadelphia, who specializes in the diagnosis.

Beathard will face a six-week rehab period before potentially rejoining team activities in spring camp.

RELATED: Way-too-early 2016 look: Iowa

Even with the injury, Beathard still earned second-team All-B1G honors and led Iowa to its first 12-win season in school history.

But he lacked mobility after the first major hit he took to his hip in Week 3 against Pitt. In the first three games, Beathard averaged 8.7 carries and 47 yards rushing. In the final 11 games, he averaged just 6.7 carries and 8.3 yards.

Like they did in the second half of 2015, the Hawkeyes will likely take it slow with their senior signal-caller. They saw what happened to Wisconsin running back Corey Clement when he returned too early from sports hernia surgery.

Barring any setbacks, Beathard will still be one of the top returning dual-threat quarterbacks in 2016.