Nebraska football may be without one of their touted freshman, at least for a little while. Wednesday, it was announced that tight end Thomas Fidone would miss the spring game and at least part of the season after suffering a knee injury. Scott Frost made the announcement to assembled media on Wednesday.
According to a report from the Lincoln Journal-Star, the tight end injured his knee during a non-contact drill during practice last week. He will need surgery. This is certainly a big blow to him in terms of the progression he made during spring ball. There were reports that he was catching on to the speed of college football, and was really impressing the coaches. Now, it appears that the progress will be put on the shelf, at least for a little while.
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This is certainly disappointing for the Nebraska football program as a whole. However, the fact that it sounds like he will be back is encouraging. Nebraska has a strong tight end room led by Austin Allen. They also have to freshman coming into next season in AJ Rollins and James Carnie. Nebraska certainly has options at the tight end position. It is not like they are bare there anymore.
Of course, Fidone was the tight end that we all wanted to see, due to his playmaking ability and his ability to stretch the field and be a dominant force offensively. There was a good chance he would have played the entirety of the season before the injury just due to skill. Now, Nebraska will have to wait until the later part of the year in order to see him.
Speaking to the media on Wednesday, head coach Scott Frost remained optimistic about the status of his tight end.
"“The best chance would be to get him back in the middle of the season and play some games down the stretch,” Frost said."
This injury is certainly disappointing, and it does put a little bit of a damper on the Nebraska football offense. Nevertheless, the Huskers certainly have enough weapons to get the job done. For Fidone, he is going to just have to continue studying the playbook and pay attention during team drills. He does have the opportunity to learn a lot while he is on the mend, and I suspect that due to his competitive nature, that’s what he will do.
It will be interesting to see how his rehab and development continues to go. I certainly wish for a speedy recovery for him, and I can’t wait to see him back out on the field.