By GERARD WELLBROCK
Hays Post Sports
HAYS – After missing spring practice while recovering from thumb surgery, Fort Hays State senior linebacker Gavin Meyers is back on the field and working to regain his rhythm as the Tigers continue preseason camp.
The Hays native underwent surgery following the 2025 season, forcing him to miss spring workouts. He was cleared to participate in voluntary summer activities and says that work has helped make the transition back into football smoother.
"I'm feeling good. I'm ready to be back," Meyers said. "It's been a while. The first practice, I kind of had to get my feet going a little bit and figure it out. My brain was a little messed up, but I pulled it together, and I feel a lot better right now. Thumb's good."
Despite missing spring drills, Meyers doesn't believe he's playing catch-up heading into the season.
"Not really," he said. "We had the summer. We were all here getting our 7-on-7 reps, and that definitely helped me get back into the groove. I definitely have a lot of stuff to pick up and clean up in my work, but we've got plenty of time."
Meyers, who began his collegiate career at Kansas State before transferring to Fort Hays State, started in the Tigers first nine games before coming off the bench in the final two contests. Meyers finished with 43 total tackles, fifth most on the team, including 3 1/2 tackles for loss. As he prepares for his senior season, he's concentrating on refining the fundamentals.
"Just the little things," Meyers said. "My technique. I've got to get back to the simple details, cleaning my game up that way, and the rest will kind of follow. You can always learn the playbook, but it definitely takes time to work on the fundamentals and clean that stuff up. That's definitely what I'm focusing on right now."
The Tigers return several key contributors on defense while also welcoming new faces into the lineup. Meyers believes the talent is there for the unit to take a step forward in 2026.
"We've got the guys," he said. "It's just putting it all together. Last year we thought we had the guys, and the camaraderie was good, but we just couldn't click. We couldn't put it all together, and that's how the season ended up. We've just got to put it together this year and hope it all ends well."