Penn State said McSorley had broken foot, but he was running around

This was a strange moment.

Penn State quarterback Trace McSorley is playing on an injured foot in the Citrus Bowl against the Kentucky Wildcats. When the second half began, back-up Sean Clifford started over McSorley, who was seen on the sidelines limping and trying to jog on what looked like his right foot.

Shortly after, it was reported by the school that the senior suffered a broken foot, and would not return:

But literally right after this, McSorley was seen on the sidelines talking with head coach James Franklin, then entering the game at QB. His third play of the second half was an interception caught by Kentucky Lonnie Johnson Jr., who returned it 24 yds to the Kentucky 34.

McSorley took a big shot on the play, too:

After the pick, McSorley visibly limped to the sidelines, but still appeared to have use of both his feet.

We’ll wait to find out more about the exact nature of his injury.

It was a weird sequence. According to ESPN’s Laura Rutledge, Penn State informed her that he was cleared to play in the second half. He came out of the locker room and reportedly threw his helmet and was seen limping around the sidelines.

In his second series, McSorley managed to score a one-yard rushing touchdown, so hey, his foot is at least OK enough for him to do that.

Obviously, playing on an actually broken foot wouldn’t be ideal (to say the absolute least), but this is McSorley’s final game as a Nittany Lion who will enter the 2019 NFL Draft, so him trying to gut through an injury (that perhaps isn’t as bad as “broken foot” sounds) isn’t the most extreme thing a player’s ever done in order to stay in a game — and it was evidently all his choice, based on his sideline conversations.

Here are ESPN’s Toddy McShay and Mel Kiper, Jr. on McSorley’s future:

McSorley doesn’t have great size (6-foot, 200 pounds) or a great arm, but he was one of college football’s most productive quarterbacks the past three seasons. McShay wrote in early December that McSorley was his favorite late-round prospect to watch. He’ll be among the contingent of QBs at the Senior Bowl, where he’ll get his shot to impress against some of the draft’s best senior prospects.

We’ll update this story with more information.