Reese Phillips overwhelmed by support after gruesome injury

Former Signal Mountain quarterback Reese Phillips looks for a receiver earlier this month in Montana's game at Washington.
Former Signal Mountain quarterback Reese Phillips looks for a receiver earlier this month in Montana's game at Washington.

Former Signal Mountain and University of Kentucky quarterback Reese Phillips completed his first 13 passes on Sept. 16, when his Montana Grizzlies were on their way to a 56-3 thrashing of Savannah State.

Phillips never got to finish that game, however, shattering the fibula (calf bone) in his left leg and rupturing ligaments in his left foot. The 6-foot-2, 212-pound senior was a recent guest of "Press Row" on Chattanooga's ESPN 105.1 FM.

Q: How has surgery gone, and how are you?

A: "It's been good. I had surgery pretty much right after the game. It was a three-hour surgery. I've been all right. They put me up at a hotel and got me a little golf cart so I can go to practice, so I'm hanging in there."

Q: It was a gruesome injury. Do you even look at the pictures?

A: "Unfortunately, I did have to see the pictures. They were up on a couple of different sites, so it was pretty hard not to see it."

Q: Have you already thought about pursuing a medical redshirt and coming back?

A: "I haven't really taken that step, but of course I've thought about it. I don't know. It will be such a different situation next year. We have a lot of senior O-linemen, and this is a serious injury. It's going to be a long recovery. We have a young quarterback who is good.

"It would definitely be a different situation."

Q: When you talk about a long recovery, have you been given a ballpark timetable?

A: "I'm not supposed to put any pressure on it for about three months. Hopefully me being young and healthy will make it a little sooner than that, but that's what the doctor told me. It was hard for me coming back from the Achilles' injury I had (in March 2015), and this one is pretty serious."

Q: What was your reaction when it happened?

A: "It was kind of a weird play, but it was also pretty routine. I was going to throw, and the corner played the pass pretty well, so I just stepped up to try to run like I've done so many different times. My foot just kind of got stuck in the turf along with the D-lineman falling on it.

"I could definitely feel it, but I didn't hear it pop. As I was falling, there was nothing I could do. I could feel that my leg was stuck, and I couldn't move it. I knew it was coming. Once it reached my stomach, the damage had been done."

Q: Who all has reached out to you?

A: There have been so many people. A lot of Montana greats have reached out to me. Jared Lorenzen reached out, and he was always a great guy when I was at Kentucky. A lot of my old coaches, like (former Signal) coach (Bill) Price, reached out. So many people have, even random middle-school kids in Montana, so it's been crazy.

"It's also been really special."

Q: Is it weird to think that may have been your final play?

A: "I kind of have a feeling that may have been it, and that's the hardest part to wrap your head around. I had just come so far, and once I got the opportunity to play, I knew that I could play well. I was very confident about the season. I didn't feel like anybody could stop us."

Q: Were you having the best game of your career?

A: "No doubt. I had said after our first game that I was going to be much different when we came back home for the third game, and I was. It didn't even feel like I was trying. I was just in a groove from the beginning.

"I didn't know I had completed that many in a row. I just knew I was playing on a different level than I had been."

Q: You had no control over this injury, but are there any decisions you would have done differently after your time at Signal?

A: "I really don't think I would change anything. When I hurt my Achilles' in my third year at Kentucky, I had some regrets, because I wanted to leave the semester before that, and I kind of got talked into staying. Then I got hurt and was out for the year, but I got to meet (former Kentucky offensive coordinator) Shannon Dawson, who will really benefit me down the line if I decide to coach.

"We have a great relationship, and he's the one who got me out here. I definitely wouldn't change anything about coming out here. The people have been amazing. It's the closest SEC feel you can get in the FCS. I accomplished the goal that I wanted to do. It just got shortened."

Q: Turning to our rapid fire, what are you going to do with more down time?

A: "I'm like in the 1 percent who hasn't seen 'Game of Thrones,' so I've got to start watching that."

Q: If Bill Price and Jared Lorenzen are in a wing-eating competition, who's winning?

A: "I love my man Bill, but Jared is taking that one with ease."

Q: You don't have to watch what you eat anymore, so what are you going to binge on?

A: "That's actually pretty dangerous, because I've got a sweet tooth. Any candy in my sight will be eaten up from here on out."

Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.

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