Austin Roberts Out With An ACL Injury

Dec 31, 2013; El Paso, TX, USA; The UCLA Bruins logo is displayed on the looker room door before they face the Virginia Tech Hokies at Sun Bowl Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ivan Pierre Aguirre-USA TODAY Sports

The injury bug has taken its first bite out of the UCLA football team as in-coming freshman, Austin Roberts, is out with an ACL tear. Roberts posted the news on Twitter saying, “my acl doesnt feel like helping this year”. It is not known how long he will be out but knowing how ACL injuries can heal, specifically tears, Roberts will mostly likely be out for the season. Bruin fans were quick to show support after his initial tweet.

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Roberts is a 6’2″, 221 lbs. 4-star wide receiver out of Carmel, Indiana, who was looking to help out an up-and-coming receiving corps. As of now, Roberts will most likely redshirt, giving him four years of eligibility remaining, starting in fall of 2015. It was not certain Roberts would play this year which would have labelled him as a redshirt anyway. The reason why certain players redshirt is to get acclimated with a team’s system and develop their skills over that year before they see time on the playing field. This injury forces Roberts into that situation.

It would have been good to see Brett Hundley utilize another weapon like Roberts, but the 6’2″ receiver will now have a year to learn Offensive Coordinator Noel Mazzone’s system and should be ready for battle when the Bruins head into fall camp one year from now. We hope Roberts has a full and speedy recovery.