Huskers' Frazier Back in Hospital New Blood Clot Found in QB's Leg

Nebraska's second-ranked football team was rocked Tuesday evening with the news that quarterback Tommie Frazier was readmitted to a Lincoln hospital after a blood clot had reformed in his right leg.

Coach Tom Osborne said Frazier apparently will stay on blood thinners for three to six months.

"Which means the rest of the season is in jeopardy and doubt for him," Osborne told television station WOWT Tuesday night. "I doubt if he will play any more this year. " Osborne had said at a Tuesday afternoon press conference, before learning the update on Frazier's condition, that the Cornhuskers' Heisman Trophy candidate definitely was out of Saturday's Big Eight Conference opener against Oklahoma State.

A few hours later, Osborne was informed that some routine tests revealed that the clot, which had hospitalized Frazier for four days last month and sidelined him for last week's game against Wyoming, had re-formed behind his right knee.

Frazier was admitted to Bryan Memorial Hospital, where the junior from Bradenton, Fla., was placed in intensive care.

"They are trying to dissolve the clot again. It is in the same place," Osborne said. "The clot should dissolve, but the disturbing thing is that Tommie is on blood-thinners. " Osborne said during Monday's Big Eight teleconference that doctors had placed Frazier on a blood-thinner called Coumadin. He said the plan called for Frazier to switch later this week to a Low Molecular weight blood-thinner called Heparin.

"We are concerned that it has re-formed without any trauma or reason to re-form," Osborne said. "It's been an unusual situation.

"We will treat him very conservatively. I'm sure he won't play any time soon, and there is a reasonably good chance the he will not play (again) this year. " Frazier was not accepting visitors or phone calls, but Osborne said "Tommie has been solid through this whole thing. He doesn't shatter easily. He seems to be in pretty good spirits. " Although no one is certain, it's believed Frazier injured his leg in the UCLA game Sept. 17. He played two offensive series the next week against Pacific, and was hospitalized the next day (Sept. 25).

Frazier was placed on a series of enzyme and anti-coagulant treatments and released after the intravenous medication dissolved the clot.

A statement released Tuesday night by the Nebraska sports information office said the discovery last week of a small, superficial clot on Frazier's lower calf led to the discover of the larger clot behind the knee.

Although specialists believe the smaller clot was old and inconsequential, the statement said it's now possible that it may be contributing to the larger clot that has re-formed. If that's the case, there's the possibility that surgery may be required to tie off the smaller clot.

A three-year starter who has led Nebraska (5-0) to two consecutive Big Eight titles, Frazier returned to practice Monday and worked out briefly. He had gone to the hospital Tuesday for some pre-scheduled tests.

"Tommie hasn't done anything strenuous," Osborne said of the workout. "The doctors recommended he move around and do some walking. He was cleared to do non-contact drills. He threw five or six passes from our skeleton (formation). (He) just dropped back and threw, and that was all. " Osborne said backup quarterback Brook Berringer, who was hospitalized after last week's Wyoming game with a partially collapsed lung, should be ready to start against OSU (3-1) in Saturday's 1 p.m. contest at Memorial Stadium.

Berringer underwent tests Tuesday morning, and was cleared to practice.

"I wouldn't say he was 100 percent," Osborne said of Berringer's Tuesday practice. "But he operated fairly well. And I suspect he will be OK. But they will need to reexamine him later this week to clear him for contact. " The rash of injuries, coupled with players transferring the past year, has left Berringer as the only scholarship player available.

Osborne said walk-on Matt Turman would would back up Berringer, with starting free safety Tony Veland, a former quarterback, also practicing at his old position.

"Tony is probably going to have to take a harder look at quarterback," Osborne said of Veland, who is also slowed with a back injury. "I know he wants to play safety, and we certainly want him to play safety.

"But I think we have to keep working with him (at quarterback) to get him up to speed, to where he could play some if he had to. " The Associated Press contributed to this report. BIOG: NAME:

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