CHARLOTTE – Texas A&M senior safety Armani Watts will be a game time decision in Friday’s Belk Bowl against Wake Forest A&M interim head coach Jeff Banks said Thursday morning.
Banks said Watts has been dealing with an upper rib injury, which was re-aggravated in the Aggies’ regular season finale at LSU. Watts was not suited out at Tuesday’s practice.
“He’s going to give it a go and see where he’s at in pregame,” Banks said. “He’s healthy, it’s just a matter of how he feels … He’s played with injuries before.”
Both Banks and A&M wide receiver Christian Kirk said Watts would want to play if able though. Kirk added that Watts has been here before, playing while battling injury.
“He’s been banged up in multiple games and he’s been fighting through,” Kirk said. “Not a lot of people know how hurt he’s been. He’s been battling through that stuff.”
If Watts cannot go, the Aggies may be in trouble up top on defense, as fellow safety Derrick Tucker is suspended for the first half after being ejected for targeting in the second half against LSU. Safety Larry Pryor missed the LSU game as well.
Banks said that he expects Tucker to be fired up to play the final 30 minutes though, as Banks added the freshman has turned heads to visitors this week in practice.
“He’s going to be bouncing up and down in that locker room for the first two quarters,” Banks said. “When we open those doors for the second half, you’re going to see No. 4, I can promise you that.”
With Friday being Watts’ final game as an Aggie, Kirk said he fully believes his best friend and roommate wants to play, but the decision will ultimately be up to him.
“I know he’s going to do everything he can to get on that field on Friday,” Kirk said. “We’ll see when game time rolls around.”