Briggs hopes to stay healthy

One key ingredient to being a special player in high school football, especially in Texas, is toughness.

However, that's one thing that Houston (TX) Jersey Village linebacker Trey Briggs hopes he doesn't have to display too much of this season.

The 6-foot-2, 216-pound outside linebacker prospect showed plenty of toughness last season playing through pain and hopes that he won't have to this season.

So it stands to reason that his primary goal is a reasonable one.

"My main goal is to stay healthy," Briggs said. "That's going to be a continuing goal. I just had surgery on both of my ankles for bone spurs. They just kept getting worse and worse. I was struggling all throughout last season playing on these bone spurs. I had to come out every other series to let the pain go away before I could even walk on them again."

While he isn't sure just how he got them, that's one part of his life that he has cut out, literally.

"I think they just happen to grow wrong. There was no initial injury. They cut them out though. I'm about 75 percent now. I'm just starting to get to walk on them. I'm doing some vigorous rehab. I'm trying to get back as soon as I can to get ready for the Spring."

Despite seeing only limited playing time due to his ankles, Briggs still has seen plenty of attention so far from colleges.

"Probably the most consistent in talking to me are Texas Tech, Nebraska, Oklahoma State, SMU, Arizona just started sending me some letters and Texas A&M," Briggs said.

"I'm planning on going to the Texas Tech junior day this Saturday and the SMU junior day. Then I also plan on going up for the Nebraska spring game."

While he would consider an offer from elsewhere, Briggs says he would prefer a little warmer climate.

"I'd like to stay primarily in the south. I'd prefer not to go to far up north. I'm not saying I wouldn't take a scholarship far away if that's the only place that offered, but I would prefer to stay down south," Briggs said.

His list of top schools currently represents that.

"Definitely Texas A&M, Texas Tech, SMU and probably Oklahoma State," Briggs said.

There's no doubt that one school is so heavily in the driver seat that Briggs would commit on the spot if they offered.

"If Texas A&M offers me, I know I'm going to take it right away," Briggs said. "My mom was an Aggie. My sister goes there. I would just love to play football there."

So far he has only had limited interaction with the Aggie coaching staff, but that may change once he is able to compete while fully healthy.

"I went to (Texas A&M's) gameday football camp last July. They said they were going to keep looking at me. They just sent me a questionnaire not too long ago."

As for his own team, Briggs won't be making any assumptions about how good they will be. He says he made that mistake last year.

"It's hard to tell because I thought we were going to do good last year with the talent we had, but we didn't do too great. So I'm just going to my best and see what I can make of myself and the team."