Kirk Ferentz hopeful Iowa football's Cade McNamara will return 'sometime next week'

Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz is hopeful that quarterback Cade McNamara will return from injury "sometime next week," he told Dave Revsine on Big Ten Network on Friday.

"Fortunately, it's a tissue issue," Ferentz told Revsine, who was at Iowa on Friday along with the BTN crew. "Hopefully, (McNamara) will be back sometime next week. I can't predict that. We'll take it week by week. But he'll be back."

This comes after McNamara went down during Kids’ Day at Kinnick open practice on Aug. 12. It was somewhat of an awkward play. McNamara scrambled downfield and seemed to lose his balance, causing him to fall chest-first on the turf. That ended up being his last play of the day. McNamara briefly left the field before returning without his shoulder pads on. He was walking under his own power.

Following that open practice, Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said it was a “muscle” issue and not related to a previous knee injury.

“I’m not alarmed right now,” Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said that day. “It’s not like, 'Oh boy, he broke his leg' or something like that. That would be really significant. So I think it’s going to be one of those things where you just got to take it day by day and hopefully, it’s on the shorter end than the longer end.”

McNamara’s health is crucial not only because of the caliber of player he is but also because of the options behind him. Joe Labas, who started Iowa’s Music City Bowl win over Kentucky last season, is out right now. That means McNamara’s backup is Wisconsin transfer Deacon Hill, who hasn’t yet attempted a pass in game-action at the college level yet.

Iowa opens the season against Utah State on Sept. 2.

Follow Tyler Tachman on Twitter @Tyler_T15, contact via email at ttachman@gannett.com