Grayson McCall injury update: NC State quarterback questionable for 2024, not ruled out

N.C. State quarterback Grayson McCall’s status remains questionable but has not been ruled out for the rest of the season, head coach Dave Doeren said on Monday during his weekly press conference.

McCall left the Wake Forest game on Saturday after a collision briefly unconscious on the field and sent him to the hospital.

McCall, serving as a ball carrier, was hit on the Wolfpack’s first offensive drive of the game. The quarterback lost his helmet and mouth guard due to the force of impact, which included Wake Forest linebacker Quincy Bryant — he was officially charged with the tackle — and two other Demon Deacons defenders.

McCall hit the ground, briefly losing consciousness, and teammates immediately signaled for the medical staff. Paramedics stabilized McCall’s neck and carted him off the field on a stretcher. He was taken to WakeMed Hospital, where Doeren said the initial reports were positive, and released around 6 p.m. Saturday.

“Grayson, once he came to, was talking and said, ‘I want the boys to win the game,’” Doeren said. “He was trying to get up, and the (medic) wouldn’t let him. I felt bad for him and his parents. You know, you’re just trying to be comforting and pray for him in that moment.”

N.C. State players signaled to the sideline to review for targeting and play stoppage. The officials did not immediately stop play nor did it review the play targeting or a personal foul.

Instead, the result of the play was scored as a fumble, recovered by Wake Forest and returned to the Wolfpack 2-yard line. The Deacs scored on a 3-yard touchdown pass. Doeren said after the game he didn’t see targeting from his location.

The hit came after McCall left the Louisiana Tech game before halftime with an undisclosed upper body injury. Doeren said on the following Monday the team was told McCall was “day-to-day” and the injury wasn’t season ending.

On Saturday, after McCall’s second injury of the season and first start since Sept. 14, Doeren said the quarterback “went through the entire protocol and was cleared.”

“He’s a captain, and you don’t lose your position to injury,” Doeren said after the game. “He was ready to play, and he took a really vicious hit. Football’s a very violent sport at times and that was a big hit that he took. I hate it for him. You just hate to see a guy get hit like that, and, obviously, the results of those kind of hits are scary.”

McCall’s 2023 season at Coastal Carolina ended because of a similar injury. He made helmet-to-helmet contact with an Arkansas State defender and landed on the ground. Medical professionals took him to a local hospital and he was diagnosed with a concussion. Due to the NCAA’s concussion protocol, McCall did not play the rest of the season.

The NCAA’s concussion protocol checklist gives team doctors authority to approve or deny clearance for activities, but it specifies the need for a multi-disciplinary team in the cases of severe head injuries.

The policy includes pre-season testing and education, an emergency action plan and follow-up testing.

In more severe cases, like McCall’s, the checklist requires evaluating a player’s spine, balance, memory, vomiting, skull deformities, changes in vitals when the player stands up, and ocular dysfunction on a regular basis. This is not an exhaustive list of requirements.

The NCAA requires the completion of a “step-wise progression” plan, implemented by a doctor specializing in concussions, before a student-athlete returns to sport-related activities. Unrestricted athletic activities should not take place before unrestricted learning activities.

McCall has never played a full season of college football. He was not the starter his true freshman year and missed at least one game due to injury in the remaining seasons.

True freshman CJ Bailey will remain in the starting role.

This story will be updated.