Injuries happen all the time, especially in football. When you play in the toughest conference in the country, they are going to happen for sure. The Big Ten is very physical, and so is every team in the now 18-team conference.
Michigan State football once again finds itself knee-deep in the injury quagmire. Then again, the Spartans have been riddled with injuries for years now.
You can go back as far as Hall of Famer Mark Dantonio's final two seasons in 2018 and 2019 to really start to see where this plague began.
Obviously injuries cannot be predicted, but something is really wrong here.
For the last five years, Michigan State has had players healthy one week, and then suddenly be out for the season the next. Am I crazy? No, here's some facts to back it up.
Just this past week, linebacker Brady Pretzlaff was announced to be out for the season with an undisclosed injury. OK, yes, he saw a lot of playing time during the Spartans' win against Youngstown State and then didn't travel out to USC.
Now coming off the bye, he's out for the season. What is the deal with that? Again, I get being hurt in a game, but when exactly did Pretzlaff get hurt?
We saw plenty of injuries occur out at USC and those are moments where the injuries were actually seen. Headlined by the scary moment for Wayne Matthews III. Plus, the friendly fire collision right before it between Nikai Martinez and Quindarius Dunnigan.
I'm rambling, so back to my point. We rarely see guys get hurt during practice weeks during the Dantonio era. But under the Mel Tucker regime and now under Jonathan Smith, we've seen an influx of injuries that would all but kill the vibe around the locker room.
Like I said, I get it, but what are these guys doing in practice? The team certainly isn’t doing something right. The injury plague Michigan State football has dealt with is almost unreal. In some ways, watching at this point, many might be praying that no one else gets hurt. It's starting to feel like the players need to be in protective bubbles.
Go get ‘em in Nebraska, but mostly, I hope the Spartans can return home without another massive list of long-term injuries.