Jordan Morgan's 'NASA launch' knee rehab has Arizona football OT on pace to start opener

Preparing Arizona left tackle Jordan Morgan for the Wildcats’ season opener in a month isn’t necessarily rocket science.
Actually, it’s sort of akin to that, according to UA offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Brennan Carroll.
Morgan, a preseason All-Pac-12 Second Team selection, is amid rehab for his right ACL he tore in Arizona’s upset victory over UCLA in November. Arizona’s medical staff, along with UA strength and conditioning staffers and assistant coaches, have worked around the clock to monitor Morgan’s knee strength entering his final season as a Wildcat.
“It looks like a NASA launch getting this guy to his destination, but it’s a really good plan and we’ll take great care of him,” Carroll said. “We’re not in any rush, we have plenty of time.”
Added Morgan: “They’ve been behind me 100% of the time. No one let up, everyone has just been focused, and I feel like all of that has helped me.”
Morgan, who rehabbed his knee on the sidelines during Arizona’s spring practices, said his knee recovery is “right on time.”
Jordan Morgan, Jonah Coleman
Arizona offensive lineman Jordan Morgan celebrates with running back Jonah Coleman after an early-season touchdown last year. Morgan, a preseason All-Pac-12 Second Team selection in 2023, is on track to start the Wildcats’ season opener Sept. 2 against NAU after rehabbing a right ACL tear from last November.
“I’m really just keeping my head down and focusing on that, getting my knee back to 100%,” the Marana native said.
When Arizona begins training camp on Friday, Morgan will be “100%, but he won’t receive 100% of the reps.” There may be some practices in training camp where Morgan won’t participate or will be limited. The next month will be centered around “building up type of stuff,” Morgan said.
“We went through a plan over the course of the next 28 days — 34 days — on exactly how we’re going to get him ready to go,” said Fisch. “We’ll monitor every rep, we’ll monitor where he is physically.”
The 6-6, 320-pound Morgan has “done everything right, so therefore he’s right on schedule,” Fisch said.
“He’s had no setback — knock on wood — at this point in time,” Fisch added.
Morgan’s season-ending knee injury could be a blessing in disguise for the Wildcats, considering it was conceivable that he would’ve landed in the first few rounds of the NFL Draft. However, the inability to test at Pro Day, private workouts or the NFL Draft combine impeded his path to the league.
Colorado Arizona Football
Arizona offensive lineman Jordan Morgan (77) takes the field during the first half of Arizona’s 43-20 win over Colorado Oct. 1, 2022, at Arizona Stadium.
Rick Scuteri photos, Associated Press
“It was either stay or leave, but I broke it down to those two things to make it easier for me mentally, because I was already going through a lot. ... I was told to take a positive outlook on it. That’s all you can really do,” Morgan said. “If you’re negative, nothing is going to come out of it. Thinking positive through the whole thing really helped me.”
The most prominent factor for Morgan’s decision to return?
“Seeing the potential of the team really helped me make my decision,” he said.
Carroll said he “got to see (Morgan) move around a little bit” this summer.
“We’re excited about getting him back out there,” Carroll said. “It’s going to be a process. He’s not getting ready for a game tomorrow.”
Morgan, who committed to the UA in 2018 after a local prep career at Marana High School, vowed to eschew thinking about reaggravating his injury when he returns to full participation in camp.
“It’s really just trusting your knee,” he said. “(In) the rehab, you really just learn to trust your knee with different types of exercises from jumping, hopping, change-of-direction type of stuff, so when I’m out there, I will already have trust in my knee.”
Arizona QB Jayden de Laura shares at the team's media day Aug. 1, 2023 what he thinks of potential all-conference offensive tackles Jordan Morgan and Jonah Savaiinaea and what they mean to his play for the Wildcats. Video by Brett Fera/Arizona Daily Star
If all goes according to plan for Morgan in training camp, he’s clear for lift-off on Sept. 2 against Northern Arizona.
Extra points
• Morgan and right tackle Jonah Savaiinaea were both named to the preseason Outland Trophy Award watch list on Tuesday, an award given to the top offensive and defensive linemen. Former UA defensive lineman Rob Waldrop won the award in 1993.
• Carroll said on Tuesday that 6-6, 345-pound freshman and former Alabama commit Raymond Pulido will initially earn reps at tackle, “but he’s versatile enough to bounce around.”
• Arizona quarterbacks coach Jimmie Dougherty, on quarterback Jayden de Laura, who recently settled a civil lawsuit stemming from a sexual-assault case during his high school career in 2018, handling scrutiny: “As I’ve said before, I’ve been proud of him for his development on the field and off the field. I think he’s continuing on that process, as a lot of us are. But it’s a daily thing. It’s a daily thing where he’s continuing to mature and grow up and do all the things that we want him to do in this program.”
• In his opening remarks at Arizona media day, Fisch said the Wildcats “got a lot of competition for the first time since I’ve been here.” Fisch said both safety positions are “wide open,” and “the linebackers are the deepest by far since I’ve been here.”
• Fisch said Arizona now has 24 defensive linemen on the roster for the upcoming season and 25 players that weigh at least 300 pounds, “which is completely different than when I walked in the door two years ago.”
• According to Fisch, the Wildcats gained a combined 994 pounds as a team, “which is one saltwater crocodile, so it’s nice to see the size in our team, the change in our team.”
• Fisch’s message to Arizona’s players entering this season: “We’ve talked about two words, and it’s ‘earn it.’ ‘Earn the conversation, earn what people are saying right now or currently about you. People are beginning to talk about Arizona football in a different light. You’ve got to earn that. You’ve got to show and prove it, really, that you’re worth the conversation.’”