Editor’s note: Offensive lineman Andrew Coker’s final season at TCU has reached a crossroads. He was injured Nov. 11 against Texas and needs surgery on his right knee but wants to see if he can play Nov. 18 against Baylor on Senior Day. It’s been an emotional week for the Frogs’ iron man, who has made 37 consecutive starts. 

Yeah, I got rolled up pretty good. I sprained my MCL, and then I have meniscus tears. The meniscus I’ve been dealing with all year, and I’ve put off surgery in order to play with my guys as long as I could. I’m going to need surgery. When do I get it?  

Photo by Percise Windom

Not yet. I’m going to give it a go and see what I can do. 

It was a pass play, and I was at the top of the rush. Oftentimes when you sit down on the bullrush, you put all the weight of that guy, plus your weight, as you’re trying to stop him. I think it was T’Vondre Sweat. He came for the quarterback, and he made a move where he spun and fell into my knee and ankle. I think it’s scary more than anything else. It was one of those things where I was like, “Oh, no!” But considering how it looks and considering what happened, I’m very fortunate. It could have been a lot worse. 

I went back into the game. The trainers worked to make me feel good enough to play. I wasn’t 100 percent, obviously, but it was one of those things where I thought to myself, “If this is it, I’m going to go out swinging.” 

The recovery period should be about six weeks, so it’s not terrible. One thing that sucks about trying to play at the next level is once you get done here, things start so fast with all training. It starts in January. I might be down for a little bit for the beginning of that, but hopefully I get built up pretty quickly and make it back. 

Photo by Percise Windom

It is what it is, though. I get emotional thinking about this injury because this place means a lot to me. I’ve been looking forward to Senior Day since I was a freshman. But it’s just part of football. I’ve played a lot of ball here, I made a lot of mistakes here, I did a lot of great things here and I had a lot of growth here. 

I’ve been around here for a long time, and fans know me. Some like me more than others. That’s what you get for playing O-line. It’ll be a sentimental day. 

Now, I need to be the best teammate I can be if I’m not playing. I need to help everybody on the field with whatever I see — technique things, anything that I think can help us win from me being on the sidelines or me being out at practice. 

I’m grateful. I’m grateful for just being here and being able to play with these guys.