Illinois’ Kaden Feagin to miss rest of season with hip injury
Bielema says Feagin’s sophomore season is over
Following his team’s 21-7 victory over No. 24 Michigan, head coach Bret Bielema revealed that sophomore running back Kaden Feagin would miss the rest of the season after undergoing surgery for an injury sustained in practice two weeks ago.
Last week, Bielema mentioned he expected Feagin to be “out for a little bit,” but provided the unfortunate news about his team’s leading rusher this season.
“Unfortunately, he won’t be with us this year,” Bielema said on Saturday. “I don’t know if he’ll be with us in the spring, but the goal and intention is for him to be with us in the fall and have a complete recovery.”
This update marks a significant change from last week when Bielema stated that a timetable for Feagin’s return was unknown.
“A week ago at this time, we didn’t really know exactly what was gonna happen,” Bielema explained. “He basically, on a practice play, kind of reached out and hyperextended his leg, and that created a little bit of an issue.”
Hyperextensions can lead to hip issues through referred pain, and Feagin underwent surgery to address it on Friday.
“We took him literally around the country,” Bielema said. “Josh [Whitman] and the administration were awesome about finding the best person for this moment; he had an operation on his hip that didn’t dislocate or anything.”
Bielema also shared that he called Feagin and his mother after the operation, noting that he was “walking around with his walker.”
“I think the surgery went extremely well; I know the doctors are extremely excited,” Bielema said. “His mom said it couldn’t have gone any better and it was definitely something that needed to have an operation.”
With his season coming to a close, Feagin has recorded 67 carries for 307 yards and three touchdowns. He has competed in five games this season, making a medical redshirt unlikely to be approved.
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