IRVING, Texas -- There have been rumors going around that Nebraska quarterback Zac Lee was recovering slowly from elbow surgery.
But Nebraska coach Bo Pelini and receiver Niles Paul said Lee is just fine. Paul said he just played catch with him this past weekend, and that Lee was really firing the football.
Pelini said Lee is 100 percent heading into the start of fall practice which is less than two weeks away.
"He's gotten to a hundred percent," Pelini said Monday during Big 12 Media Days. "It's probably been a couple of weeks now. He's throwing the ball really well. We were just talking about how much pop he has and how good he's throwing. I knew he'd get back. I put my trust in the trainers and the medical guys. I think they've done it the right way."
Lee started the 2009 season strong with good performances in three of the first four games. He completed 15-of-22 passes form 213 yards and two touchdowns in the opener against Florida Atlantic, then hit 27-of-35 passes for 340 yards and four touchdowns against Arkansas State.
After a subpar game in a loss at Virginia Tech, Lee hit 15-of-18 passes for 238 yards and a touchdown in the final non-conference game against Louisiana Tech.
But the rest of the season was rough for Lee and the Husker offense. That may have been due in part to Lee's elbow injury that the Huskers kept hidden until after their 33-0 win over Arizona in the Holliday Bowl.
Pelini said the Huskers definitely need the better quarterback play in 2010.
"You know, let's face it, he's at the center point. He's the trigger guy," Pelini said. "You know, we're fortunate we do have some experience coming back at that position. We have two young men who are competing for the starting job with Zac Lee, who had great springs, have a lot of talent. They're play makers, they're very explosive athletes."
Pelini liked what he saw from both sophomore Cody Green and redshirt freshman Taylor Martinez in spring practice. Pelini said both did some impressive things for the Huskers.
Pelini likes to have competition at every position, including quarterback.
"We've got a lot of practices before we play that first game. You know, it will be interesting to see how that competition plays out," he said. "I preach competition since I took over Nebraska at each and every position, and I think that the quarterback position is just one where you're going to see guys battling it out from day one."
That lack of spring practice is the biggest thing holding Lee back heading into fall camp. That's the biggest negative for the senior quarterback.
"He's competing well, and he's looking forward to a great fall and a great fall camp coming up," Pelini said. "But, you know, any time you miss a significant amount of time, it has an impact on you because you lose time to get better.
"You know, at the age these young men are, really any college football player, there's always that room for improvement. Nobody's ever reached their potential. So any time you miss, it's not the ideal situation."
Pelini said he hopes the quarterback position will shake itself out by the time the Huskers travel to Washington for the third game of the season on Sept. 18.
"I would hope it would be fairly clear by then," Pelini said. "But if it's not, it's not. If we have a couple of guys competing well for it, we could go that way. There are so many things that could happen. I can't really look into a crystal ball and figure it out.
"You figure it out as you go along, and I'm pretty good at that."
Lee does have the experience advantage over Green and Martinez, but Pelini said the two younger quarterbacks closed the gap in the spring.
Pelini said the Huskers won't be distracted by the quarterback battle no matter how it turns out.
"It might be a distraction for you guys," Pelini said to reporters. "It won't be a distraction for our team. It's kind of how we handle every position. We're not going to handle the quarterback position differently than we handle tight end, wide receiver, defensive back.
You compete on a daily basis. What you do in practice is what we believe is going to happen in the game. The guys who show it in practice deserve to get the reps in the game. That's who's going to be on the field. It's as simple as that. I don't try and make any rash decisions."
