Illinois Football Injury Week 5 Update: The Good and Bad News

Illinois Football left Bloomington (IN) banged up after a humbling loss, and if they hope to turn things around in Week 5, when Lincoln Riley and No. 21 USC come to Champaign for Homecoming, the Illini will need to be as close to full strength as possible when they kick off Saturday morning (9/27).

On Monday (9/22), head coach Bret Bielema met with the media to review the defeat at Indiana and preview their looming pivotal matchup with the 4-0 Trojans. He opened his presser by addressing the overall health of his roster entering week 5, including several key members of the secondary who left Saturday’s blowout with injuries. Bielema additionally provided updates on a handful of others nearing a return who could make a productive impact on this team moving forward.

So, how healthy is Illinois heading into Week 5? Here’s the good news—and the bad news—straight from Bielema.

Illinois Football. Bret Bielema. Credit: Illinois Football on Instagram. (@IlliniFootball).

The Bad News

“Some good and some bad,” is how Bielema described the Illini’s week 5 heath report. Let’s start with the bad news…. According to the Illini head coach, they will be without one of thier stars on the defensive side of the ball for the foreseeable future, as the season progresses forward into Big Ten play.

“Obviously, Xavier (Scott) didn’t make the trip with us. He was actually still getting some evaluation. The last I had a conversation with him last night, he’ll have a procedure done on Wednesday. He will be out for the majority of the rest of the year, but there is a chance he could come back at the end. So, we’ll kind of address that after he gets in and gets surgery, where that is.”

The Good News

“The guys that happened during the course of the game: Matt Bailey is in concussion protocol. I do think he’ll get cleared later this week, but obviously that’s a wait-and-see. The good thing about that one is, he’s played a lot of football, and probably doesn’t need a high majority of reps to be able to go out there and play.”

“Really got devastated at certain positions,” Bielema stated. “At free safety, when Miles (Scott) went out, what wasn’t due to injury, that, obviously, he’ll return, but he was called for targeting.”

“We put in Mac (Resetich) – Mac went out.” Bielema also mentions, “Our third string safety before the season ever started was Ben Clawson – he’s been out, he’ll return this week. He’s gonna resume practice on Wednesday.”

Bielema added, “Our third (safety) going into the game was Grayson Griffin, and he hurt his back in the middle of the game on special teams. So, we put Saboor (Karriem) in, who did an awesome job. The kids have had two good weeks of football, the best he’s had since he’s been here. So, he was kinda playing boundary safety for us, was kind of at Matt Bailey’s position, we put him in at free (safety).  So, we were kind of moving guys around.”

“At the corner position, Kaleb Patterson, all of the injuries, all the X-rays were negative. So, expect him to be back with us for tomorrow’s practice.”

“Also, Torrie Cox, who was injured over on the sideline, his MRI’s were negative last night. So, he’ll be back with us for practice on Tuesday as well.”

Aside From the Secondary

Beyond the secondary, Bielema also had encouraging updates on a few key players who were expected to suit up against Indiana but ultimately didn’t make an impact.

“We did plan on playing J-B0 (Justin Bowick) – we had a package for him and never got to it. So, he’s back with us, even though he didn’t play Saturday night. He was cleared for the game and went through everything up to the game.”

“Aidan Laughery – went through warmups, just didn’t feel like it was where it needed to be.” He continued, “But, he’s feeling really good, should be with us full go this week as well.”

Bielema concluded his thoughts on the injury report by stating, “Got some guys bumped up and banged up, but other than that, pretty clean.”

He did not provide an update on Jaheim Clarke, who was “very, very close“ as of last week.