Sophomore Davis Cheek will be out for the rest of the season due to a torn ACL in his left knee, as first reported by Adam Smith of the Times News. Cheek suffered the injury in Elon’s first Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) loss of the year against the University of Delaware on Saturday, Oct. 13.
With around seven minutes to play in the first quarter, Cheek was flushed out of the pocket by the Blue Hen defense. Looking for an open receiver, Cheek scrambled to the far sidelines and attempted to cut past a defender to buy himself more time. As he planted his left leg, Cheek collapsed to the turf while holding his knee in a non-contact incident. Cheek would not return to the field for the remainder of the game.
Cheek had completed over 65 percent of his passes in the six games he played this season. The sophomore signal caller racked up over a thousand yards passing in the first half of the season, complemented by five total touchdowns (four passing, one throwing), and only one interception.
Cheek responded to the report on Twitter:
Sophomore Jalen Greene will now step under center for the Phoenix. Greene initially came into Elon competing for the starting quarterback job with Cheek, but Cheek ended up with the starting role.
Greene has seen time on the field in five games for the Phoenix this year. His most prolific time came as backup in the game against the Blue Hens after Cheek went down. In that game, Greene passed for 140 yards and ran for 36. Greene has also gotten action in running situations for the Phoenix this year. The quarterback is more mobile than Cheek and already has three rushing touchdowns on the year for the Phoenix.
Greene will get his first start of the year this Saturday when the Phoenix take on the Spiders of the University of Richmond at Rhodes Stadium.