Antoine Winfield Jr Injury Watch (Out for the Season)




A granted waiver would mean that Winfield, who will have foot surgery on Monday, will have three years of eligibility remaining (2019, 2020 and 2021).
 

Holy crap. Guy can't stay healthy. It will come out but if it's a Lisfranc it could really affect his career not only here but after because of the length of time it takes. Feel bad for the kid, so talented but can't stay healthy and man we need him! Who's next man up? I thought Swanson looked good in the spring game, but it's the spring game. Maybe get one of the freshman...Sapp?
 


I'll say this so no one else has to....

OH MY GOD! THERE GOES THE SEASON!!!

Now that the hysteria is out of the way. I wish AWJr11 the best for a full and speedy recovery.

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A granted waiver would mean that Winfield, who will have foot surgery on Monday, will have three years of eligibility remaining (2019, 2020 and 2021).

And no chance he stays that long
 

And no chance he stays that long

If you're talking about going pro - no NFL team is going to touch a player with his history of injuries until he demonstrates that he is healthy and can stay healthy for at least an entire season. Same boat as Rodney Smith - if he wants to go pro, coming back and proving he can stay healthy may be his only route.
 

Goodness gracious. If Gophers fans didn't have bad luck we'd have no luck at all. How can we continue rooting for this team year after year...and spending countless hours discussing our excitement (which quickly turns to misery) in like April?! First Brooks, then Smith, then Winfield -- for the second straight year! What a disaster. It's just football, of course, but it's sure deflating.

On the bright side, I guess it sets up the roster even better for future National Championship runs :)
 



Here's the press release from the U:

Winfield Jr. To Miss Remainder Of Season With Injury

University of Minnesota football coach P.J. Fleck announced today that defensive back Antoine Winfield Jr., will miss the remainder of the season after suffering an injury in the first quarter at Maryland on Saturday.

"We are heartbroken for Antoine," said head coach P.J Fleck. "Like Rodney Smith, I know he will keep his oar in the water, keep moving forward and will work tirelessly to return to the field next season. We believe Antoine meets the waiver requirement for a sixth year of eligibility and we will file that waiver with the NCAA at the conclusion of the season."

A granted waiver would mean that Winfield, who will have foot surgery on Monday, will have three years of eligibility remaining (2019, 2020 and 2021).
 

Surprised he would still have three years of eligibility. Pleasantly surprised, of course. He's a hell of a ballplayer.

JTG
 






I'm not much worried about the additional year since I figured he would opt for NFL draft earlier at some point.

But with each injury it starts to become a bigger question of whether he'll be able to stay healthy enough for the NFL. If he opts in, he might not get drafted in a particular year, but he would have UDFA interest. It really sucks.


If we ranked our best players, are Brooks, Smith, and Winfield all in our top three? Or just our top five players?


Get well soon AW.
 

Brutal. This team can not catch a break and losing our most experienced DB on top of Brooks / Smith is painful. Hoping for a complete recovery for him.
 

What a crap weekend. Bad game and lose Winfield jr to. Gophers football is cursed. If we didn't have bad luck we would have no luck at all.

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Well I guess this season ends at 3-1. Im at the cut bait while you still have your sanity point of my fandom
 

Son of a.....first Smith and now Winfield for the season. Just a crushing blow to a team that was already light on depth and experience to lose their top offensive and defensive players this early in the season.

Really hope Winfield can get this rehabbed and be back to 100% by next season. Kid is an unbelievable player but just can't catch a break (no pun intended) on the injury front.

The young guys in the secondary are going to have to grow up quick and someone will need to take on the role of field general back there. Don't think we have anyone that can replace what Winfield brings to the game but hopefully they can find a way to at least somewhat cover for his loss.

One of the worst weekends in Minnesota football (Gophers and Vikings) just keeps getting worse....
 

Minnesota sports. You can't make it up.
 


I feel so bad for Winfield. Dude has all the skill in the world and seems to have his head on right and be a hard worker too but just can't catch a break and stay healthy....
 

I know it's too late to discard this season, but seeing how long we have to go.... having Winfield, Rodney & Shannon all back next year would be pretty incredible.
 

Is what it is. That’s 2 years in a row. Next man up. That’s why Fleck is building depth. Move on and ROW. What other choice do you have? Dwell and feel sorry or bow up? It’s football, injuries are gonna happen. Some years worse than others. Ski U Mah Go Gophers!!!


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Holy crap. Guy can't stay healthy. It will come out but if it's a Lisfranc it could really affect his career not only here but after because of the length of time it takes. Feel bad for the kid, so talented but can't stay healthy and man we need him! Who's next man up? I thought Swanson looked good in the spring game, but it's the spring game. Maybe get one of the freshman...Sapp?

Howden replaced him Saturday and played the whole game. Late addition from Las Vegas, true freshman. A sleeper. He’s got talent, length and speed, needs time to develop physically though.


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On a positive note, once Antoine leaves he'll be addressed as Dr. Winfield in whatever field of study he chooses. [emoji56]
 

How likely is a 6th year to be granted?last year he went down in same game so combined in two years he played in 8 games and could gave played more last year but they held him out at end to get a 5th year.


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Not sure if anyone else has posted this yet, but last Spring the Daily Gopher asked readers to submit their 10 most important players for 2018. I can't remember my entire group of 10, but do know I had Winfield Jr first and Rodney Smith second. Here were the composite results (Smith 1st, Winfield Jr 2nd): https://www.thedailygopher.com/2018...tant-players-of-2018-rodney-smith-nfl-draftee

This is just an absolutely brutal blow to the program and is going to make things very difficult for PJ Fleck going forward. How many teams ever lose their best/most important player on both sides of the ball in the same season?
 





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