A key piece of UConn’s defensive puzzle will be sidelined for the foreseeable future. If not permanently.
UConn confirmed Monday that E.J. Levenberry sustained a torn ACL in his right knee and will undergo at an undetermined point in the future. The rising senior linebacker sustained the injury during a Saturday practice this past weekend.
As to the timeline for a return, the school would only allow that Levenberry will miss the remainder of spring practice. The normal timeline for a return from a torn ACL would be around six months from the time of surgery, which would suggest mid-October at the earliest.
Unless he can secure an unlikely sixth year of eligibility from the NCAA, Levenberry would, should he not be able to return at all this season, see his collegiate playing career come to an end because of this injury.
“I feel terrible for E.J.,” first-year (again) Huskies head coach Randy Edsall said in comments distributed by the football program. “He has been working extremely hard and the injury was just one of those unfortunate instances. There was no contact, he just simply planted and the knee gave out.”
A four-star member of FSU’s 2013 recruiting class, Levenberry opted to transfer from Tallahassee following the 2014 season after playing in 26 games during his two years with the Seminoles. Forced to sit out the 2015 season to satisfy NCAA transfer bylaws, the 6-3, 250-pounder started 11 games last year, finishing tied for first on the team with four sacks and third in tackles for loss with five.