Brent Key: Haynes King will practice this week ahead of Clemson game
Georgia Tech coach Brent Key, in an interview with radio station 680 The Fan on Monday, updated the injury status of quarterback Haynes King.
“(King) is doing well. We’ll make decisions once we get into practice. He’s expected to practice this week,” Key said. “It’s one of those things that was right up until game time beforehand. He’d gone through all the pregame warmups and everything, but when you got something that could be completely healed in a matter of a short time, and if you do something else to it, now it’s four to six weeks. Look, I’m gonna listen to the doctors, I’m gonna do what they say when it comes to that because that’s the priority when it comes to our players.”
King was scratched before kickoff Saturday because of what Key referred to as a nagging lower body injury. The senior passed for 143 yards and rushed for 156, including three touchdowns, in a 27-20 win at Colorado on Aug. 29.
But King remained on the sidelines Saturday during Tech’s 59-12 win over Gardner-Webb, while backup Aaron Philo threw for 373 yards. Philo’s performance came after the redshirt freshman lost a fumble on Tech’s first offensive series and after he threw an interception on the second.
“I told (Philo), right before we went out, ‘Hey, you’re gonna make mistakes out there. Everybody’s gonna make mistakes. Everybody in this room is gonna make mistakes today. Put them behind you, learn from ‘em. Put ‘em behind you and move on the next play,’” Key said. “Well after that second series he came over the sidelines and I tried to be in a calming manner, knowing my guts are ripping up inside. I smiled and said, ‘Man, you sure are lucky Aaron. You got your two big ones out of the way on the first two drives, so let’s go play ball now.’”
Saturday’s game was the first career start for Philo, who passed for 565 yards in 2024. He was named the ACC’s rookie of the week Monday. The 373 passing yards Saturday were the fifth-most in a single game in Tech history and most since 2001.
The Prince Avenue Christian School graduate set the program record for most passing yards by a freshman and most passing yards by a Yellow Jacket in a first career start.
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