The 2017 season hasn’t even kicked off yet, but Indiana’s defensive line has already suffered a rather significant loss.
Head coach Tom Allen confirmed Tuesday that Nile Sykes will miss the entire 2017 season because of injury. The coach declined to delve into the specific nature of the injury, which the lineman suffered at some point during the team’s summer workouts.
“Just unfortunate part of the workout,” Allen said according to Rivals.com. “I hurt for him. He’s worked extremely hard.”
Last season as a redshirt sophomore, Sykes played in all 13 games for the Hoosiers. The 6-2, 250-pound end made his first career start in the regular-season finale, a two-point win over Purdue that gave IU bowl eligibility in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1990-91.
Sykes’ five sacks in 2016 were second on the team, while his seven tackles for loss were fourth.