No one likes to see anybody get injured.

Wait, that’s not true at all. If it were there would be no Maximum Exposure, Vonage commercials, Ultimate Fighting Championships or Celebrity Boxing. (There’s nothing quite like watching Screech put a hurt on Horshack from Welcome Back Kotter – nothing.)

With athletes, though, it’s different, and that’s why Jacksonville State’s senior quarterback Maurice Mullins needs to be warned about his game with Eastern Saturday at 1 p.m.

Mullins is a duel-threat quarterback; he’s passed for 1,214 yards and rushed for 328 yards this season. He can beat a team with his arm and with his feet.

He’s not unlike other quarterbacks the Eastern football team has faced this season. Murray State’s Ken Topps was shifty and athletic, running through and around the Panther defense. Tennessee State’s Jerald Cook and his backup, Andre Davis, both demonstrated they could scramble away from Eastern’s defensive pressure and gain some yards.

All three looked effective – for a while.

Topps, Cook and Davis couldn’t finish a game against the Panthers’ defense.

And because it’s happened three times this season, it’s safe to say we’ve got a trend on our hands.

That’s why Mullins needs to watch out. There isn’t a bounty on the quarterback’s head, but there is a bulls-eye on his jersey every time he rolls out of the pocket or ventures into the Eastern defense.

He should know better too.

During last season’s 31-21 win at Eastern, Mullins came around his offensive line on a quarterback option play. He got hit – hard – ending his day with an injured shoulder.

Making matters worse, Mullins apparently is tough.

JSU head coach Jack Crowe said Mullins isn’t the kind of player who shies away from contact.

“Maurice has a linebacker mentality,” Crowe said.

Uh oh.

At 6-foot-1 and 198 pounds, Mullins doesn’t have a prototypical linebacker’s body to compliment his linebacker mindset.

Crowe said Eastern has a physical defense, but so have some of JSU’s other opponents. Ultimately, he said, the responsibility falls on Mullins to stay out of harm’s way.

“A quarterback has to be smart enough when to get on the ground or head out of bounds,” Crowe said. “He needs to be selective about how much contact there is on a play.

“I hope he uses good judgment when he is running; I hope he’s smart about how much contact there is.”

Really though, how much choice does Mullins have? If he runs, he will be hit.

The Eastern defense has feasted on running quarterbacks. Without the protection of an offensive line, a running quarterback is exposed and vulnerable.

If the Panther defense is like a great white shark, a scrambling quarterback might as well be chum.

It’s not like the Eastern defense will be trying to injure Mullins.

But, when it’s your nature to punish, the bodies tend to pile up.

If you don’t like to see people get hurt, come Saturday, you might want to turn away.

Dan Woike, a senior journalism major, isn’t really bloodthirsty. Try and loan him your Faces of Death tapes at [email protected].