Earlier this year, Tony Adams became the first true freshman to start at cornerback for Illinois since Vontae Davis in 2006. A few weeks later, his season has ended on a much lower note.
Lovie Smith has confirmed that Adams will miss the remainder of 2017 after undergoing surgery on his shoulder. The defensive back originally suffered the injury in an Oct. 7 loss to Iowa and didn’t play in last weekend’s loss to Rutgers because of it.
This marks the second straight year Adams’ season has ended prematurely as he suffered a torn ACL as a senior in high school.
“Unfortunately, you know he was doing some good things for us,” Smith said according to the Associated Press. “But, you know Tony had a serious knee injury in high school and came back from it so he’ll come back from this.”
Adams was a three-star 2017 signee who was rated as the No. 8 player at any position in the state of Illinois. In the Sept. 15 loss to South Florida, he recorded his first career interception.