Phil Jurkovec is back.

That’s significant not just because he’s returning to the field from injury, but because the broken hand he suffered six games ago was expected to have him sidelined for the entirety of the season. That’s a big blow for a quarterback who was cracking his way into the top 10 at the position and even higher on some analysts’ draft boards

The numbers the Boston College quarterback put up in Friday’s 17-3 win over the Virginia Tech Hokies didn’t leap off the stat sheet—he completed 7-of-13 passes for 112 yards with zero touchdowns and one interception, also carrying the ball nine times for 65 yards and one rushing touchdown—but they don’t reflect just how much of an impact-maker Jurkovec is for the Eagles.

He helped get the run game going on one designed run as well as taking off improvising on his own, also hitting receivers Jaelen Gill and Zay Flowers on some deep passes. There was some rust to be knocked off and it’s easy to get the sense that Jurkovec may not exactly be back at full capacity, but this was still a decent outing for him given the situation, especially with how high the odds were stacked against him.

And it doesn’t get much more impressive than this, whether it’s a quarterback coming off injury or one who has been perfectly healthy all season long:

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Jurkovec was cleared to play the Friday before, and head coach BC head coach Jeff Hafley left the decision to take the field up to his passer. This was Jurkovec’s call.

"This wasn't something that we were hiding or planned. He got cleared Friday and had not really practiced and just being honest with you, called him in and I would have said it best, 50/50 chance with the amount of reps he was going to be able to check and to be able to play. I didn't want to do anything to jeopardize or get him hurt.

"So we wanted to really guide him but let him make the decision, and he walked into coach Cignetti and said, "I'm playing," Hafley told reporters. "And when Phil looks you in the eye and says that, you listen to him."

Through three games this season (though he only threw four passes in the game in which he was injured against UMass and wasn’t on the field for long), the 6-foot-5, 226-pound junior has completed 26-of-41 passes (63.4%) for three touchdowns with one interception, also using his underrated abilities on the ground to gain 126 rushing yards and one touchdown on the ground on 14 carries.

It will be interesting to see how the Eagles and Jurkovec continue to move forward down the final stretch of the season with Georgia Tech, Florida State, and No. 13-ranked Wake Forest, one of the hotter teams in the nation, up on schedule for the final three contests.

While it seems unlikely that Jurkovec will enter the draft at this point given the time he’s missed, he has an opportunity to get right back to it and continue to increase his stock, which was already rising to begin with.