Shedeur Sanders has been hurting worse than everyone thought.

The star Colorado quarterback was clearly dealing with an ankle injury since the Buffaloes’ loss to UCLA in late October and he was also feeling numbness in his hand that was affecting his ability to grip the football in the loss to Washington State.

But neither of those is what apparently kept him out of the season finale against Utah.

According to the latest video on the Well Off Media Youtube page run by Deion Sanders Jr., Shedeur suffered a fracture in his back, likely last week in Pullman.

Deion Sanders wouldn’t specify what the injury was when asked about it directly after the loss Saturday in Salt Lake City, only saying, “Shedeur is hurting.” But coach Sanders clarified that he did not expect his son to need a procedure in the offseason to fix what we now know is a back injury.

Despite missing the final game and a half of the season, it was still a record-breaking campaign for Shedeur in his first season in Boulder. He set the program record for single-season passing yards with 3,230. He had 27 touchdown passes and only three interceptions, which is the best touchdown-to-interception ratio in Buffaloes history.

Shedeur’s first game against TCU also set program records for passing yards in a single game and best completion percentage in a single game with 40 or more attempts.

It hasn’t been confirmed by either Shedeur or coach Sanders, but the Buffs will likely have their star quarterback return for the 2024 season, despite being eligible to enter the NFL Draft.

Buffaloes lose second QB commit in as many days

Despite claims from CU staff members that it’s not time to panic, it would be natural for Colorado fans to be a little worried after the program lost its second straight commitment from a high school quarterback in the last two days.

The 2024 class is now down to just nine members after three-star QB Danny O’neil from Indianapolis reopened his commitment just weeks before the early signing period opens.

Given how involved co-offensive coordinator Sean Lewis was in O’neil’s recruitment and how much uncertainty surrounds Lewis’ status in Boulder, this shouldn’t be too surprising.

It does drop the Buffs’ 2024 class to No. 58 in the country, according to 247sports. But it will likely be another offseason where the focus is on the transfer portal.