Behren Morton's search for shoulder care, biomechanics advice led him to Jacksonville

Over the past several weeks, some famous quarterbacks have made trips to Jacksonville, Florida, to do training and rehabilitation with a team led by a sports scientist and performance coach. Among them: Brock Purdy of the NFC champion San Francisco 49ers, recent No. 1 overall draft pick Caleb Williams and the Indianapolis Colts' Anthony Richardson, the No. 4 overall pick in the 2023 draft.

This past week, Texas Tech football quarterback Behren Morton was in Jacksonville, too, for four days of workouts and learning more about how to take care of his troublesome throwing shoulder.

One of the men who oversees the workouts is Tom Gormely, an orthopedic clinical specialist, sports physical therapist and applied biomechanics coach. The sports scientist and sports performance coach's clients include quarterbacks and baseball players, especially pitchers.

A few days before Morton and Texas Tech head athletic trainer Michael Ramirez left last Sunday for Jacksonville, Tech coach Joey McGuire said, "He's got a plan that he's on right now. It's literally a three-month plan, but he's going to work him out. He's going to throw with him on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to give him even more to add into that plan, from warming up pre-game to different things he can do in the weight room and stuff like that, and so I'm anxious to see what that guy says or adds to his plan."

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Eastland coach James Morton said Behren Morton, his son, did his last day of workouts in Jacksonville on Thursday.

"I think it was more shoulder rehab stuff, but also just shoulder care stuff, kind of like preventative," he said. "Behren's a little bit behind preventative, but being able to continue to strengthen the shoulder with it and doing work with it.

"He really seemed confident in what they were doing down there in Jacksonville and liked the program."

Behren Morton missed last nine practices of Texas Tech spring football

The most jolting news out of Texas Tech spring practice came April 3 when Tech announced Morton was being shut down after six workouts, taking the rare step of sending out a press release to get ahead of rumors and speculation.

The Red Raiders' quarterback suffered a grade-3 sprain to the AC joint in the Sept. 23 Big 12 opener at West Virginia. He played with it the rest of the season, spending more time between games with the Tech medical staff than practicing.

He was voted outstanding offensive player of the Independence Bowl after throwing for 259 yards and three touchdowns in a victory over California. McGuire said after Morton ceased workouts, he still expected to play in the spring game. McGuire reiterated two weeks ago in an interview with the Avalanche-Journal that Morton would say he can play today.

"I think he's right," James Morton said of McGuire's assessment. "I think we all felt confident about the rehab process and what Behren's going to have done through the rest of the spring and the summer and getting into fall camp. I think Tech's got a great medical group, and I think they'll come up with a plan that they need to have and give Behren the best chance and, more importantly, the team the best chance to be successful."

Morton threw for 140 yards and two touchdowns in the Red Raiders' first spring scrimmage on March 29. When the usual soreness didn't subside within a couple of days, McGuire said Dr. Kevin Crawford, the Tech team physician, recommended the shutdown. Given that Morton's status as starting quarterback was unquestioned, Crawford thought it better to work on getting the soreness out.

Top orthopedists didn't recommend surgery for Behren Morton shoulder injury

Not long after, James Morton said, Behren Morton was examined in Arlington by Dr. Keith Meister, the Texas Rangers' team doctor, and in Los Angeles by Dr. Neal ElAttrache. The latter has done surgeries on some of the biggest stars in sports, among them Shohei Ohtani, Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Joe Burrow and the late Kobe Bryant.

According to McGuire, none recommended surgery.

"We've gone to three different guys," McGuire said, referring to Crawford, Meister and ElAttrache, "and it was like, 'You don't want to have surgery unless it's a have-to. The guys that are having surgery on this, they have to have surgery. And so we've considered it. We just want that be a last resort if he has to have it."

ElAttrache did surgery on Richardson in October after the Colts' rookie reportedly suffered a grade-3 AC joint tear. Richardson has worked closely with Gormely, whose team also includes Will Hewlett, a private quarterbacks coach.

McGuire noted other QBs have played through AC joint injuries without surgery, one being Patrick Mahomes, who got hurt in the Red Raiders' Big 12 opener in 2016.

McGuire said he conveyed his support to Morton whichever course of treatment he preferred, but left the decision up to him.

"But when they came back — and coach Morton went with him and Mike (Ramirez) went with him," McGuire said, "every doctor we went to said, 'You're in great shape. You feel like you can play. We feel like you can play.' "

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McGuire pointed out injuries have forced him to play three quarterbacks in each of his first two seasons as the Red Raiders' coach. Tyler Shough, Donovan Smith and Morton all suffered significant injuries within the first six games in 2022, causing each to miss starts.

Shough and Morton both got hurt in the fourth game in 2023, and Jake Strong had to start a game as a true freshman. On back-to-back weeks, Strong threw six interceptions in six quarters against Kansas State and Brigham Young, the game he started.

McGuire said he knows the danger of getting caught short at quarterback. Tech took Cameran Brown, a walk-on transfer from Division II West Georgia, from the NCAA transfer portal. Brown came out of spring practice as No. 2 behind Morton. If he were fearful about Morton's availability, McGuire said, he would have searched harder in the portal for another one.

A story last month by Briana McDonald of 49ers.com detailed Purdy's and Williams's offseason workouts in Jacksonville.

"In Jacksonville," McDonald wrote, "the quarterbacks throw passes in front of 3D motion capture equipment in order to break down their mechanics using high speed cameras and avatars. Gormely and the training staff then create rehab and skill development plans tailored to each quarterback's individual data."

"It's the mobility," Purdy said. "It's getting my shoulder to open up more so that my elbow can come through and I can be a more efficient thrower. Not just coming in to throw, but actually work on your mechanics."

McGuire said he's eager to see what Morton brings back from the sessions that give him a better chance of getting through a season healthy.

"The lead shoulder guy from the NFL said this is the number-one guy in the country," McGuire said, "so he's going to add to kind of everything — like building that shoulder up and strengthening and then also warmups. If you're a Dallas Cowboy fan, you see Dak (Prescott) warm up a certain way with his hips and all that stuff. (They're) trying to do some of that stuff to better prepare Behren for the season."

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Some NFL QBs are going to Jacksonville for tips — so, too, Behren Morton