J.J. Weaver (13) celebrates after making a tackle. (SEC Photo)
One of the bright spots for the Kentucky defense this season has been redshirt freshman linebacker J.J. Weaver of Louisville. Weaver had 21 tackles, including six in the loss last week to Florida, this season. He has 6.5 tackles for loss and two quarterback hits. However, he won’t be playing against South Carolina Saturday or if UK plays in a bowl game.
“Man I don’t even know where to start! This year have been the hardest of my life. My father got killed and I just found out I have a tore ACL! They say, God gives his hardest battles to his toughest soldiers. Happy 21 birthday To Me,” Weaver posted on Twitter.
Kentucky coach Mark Stoops said at his Monday press conference that Weaver had a “serious lower leg injury” and would be out for “quite some time” without providing any more specifics.
Weaver called it a “minor setback for a major comeback” on social media but it was another difficult blow following the murder of his father last summer.
“We’re extremely disappointed for J.J. and he was arguably playing just as good as anybody on our team, so it’s disappointing. J.J. is in good spirits. He will return and he will overcome this injury that many people have. He’ll get back. Our docs will do a great job. He’ll rehab extremely hard and he’ll be back,” Stoops said.
Weaver was ranked as the 14th best player at his position in his recruiting class after his senior season at Louisville Moore and Rivals.com had the four-star player as the nation’s 213th best player overall in his recruiting class. He had 70 tackles, 10 quarterback sacks, three interceptions and a football recovery his senior season when Moore won 11 games.
Recruiting coordinator Vince Marrow got an early verbal commitment from Weaver and then fought to keep him when speculation started that he might flip to Louisville — something Weaver continuously denied.
“It’ll take some time but he’ll come back at full strength. It is disappointing to see a young man play so hard, so physical, so talented and it’s very disappointing,” Stoops said.
