Report: Injury keeping Clayton Thorson out of Senior Bowl

Northwestern quarterback Clayton Thorson had the opportunity to participate in Saturday’s Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama, but an ankle injury will keep him from playing.

According to Adam Hoge of WGN, Thorson suffered an ankle injury near the end of Northwestern’s Holiday Bowl victory over Utah. Because the former Wildcats gunslinger wants to be at full strength for the upcoming NFL combine, he won’t be playing in the annual Senior Bowl.

Hoge reports that Thorson wouldn’t have been 100 percent for this weekend’s event.

Clayton Thorson is still recovering from that injury he suffered late in the Holiday Bowl, I’m told. While it looked like a knee, it was actually an ankle injury. Nothing serious, but he wouldn’t have been 100% this week at the Senior Bowl and wants to be 100% for the Combine.

— Adam Hoge (@AdamHoge) January 22, 2019

Thorson had a tremendous career at Northwestern, starting in every game since arriving in Evanston in 2015. He started in 53 career games and threw for over 10,000 career yards and 61 touchdowns in four years.

Northwestern was 36-17 with Thorson under center, posting two 10-win seasons and winning the B1G West title in 2018.

With Thorson suffering an injury in the Holiday Bowl, it’s the second straight year in which the quarterback has endured a postseason injury. In the Music City Bowl last year, Thorson had an ACL injury that put his senior season in jeopardy.

Fortunately for Thorson, the injury sustained in the Holiday Bowl doesn’t sound quiet as serious as the knee injury.