Illinois Football: Commanders Defensive Tackle Undergoes Foot Surgery

Originally posted on Armchair Illini | By Alex Kyi | Last updated 5/11/24

Illinois Football: Commanders Defensive Tackle Undergoes Foot Surgery

Illinois Football had a proud 2024 NFL Draft. The star of the show was none other than Jer’zhan Newton. Newton was a dominant force for Illinois Football and was a second-round pick of the Washington Commanders. Newton did slip down the draft board as many teams prioritized offensive weapons during the first round. Additionally, Newton had foot surgery after the 2023 season to repair a partial Jones fracture in his right foot. This injury seemed to give some teams reason to pause on Newton’s long-term potential. Unfortunately, the Head coach of the commanders, Dan Quinn, reported that Newton suffered the same injury to his other foot and will now require surgery.

Dan Quinn noted that the surgery will take place sometime next week and there is currently not a time table for Newton’s return to the field.

Dan Quinn says 2nd rounder Johnny Newton has an injury to his other foot, not the same foot as his college season but the same injury, and has a procedure scheduled for next week. “Not giving any timelines for that.”

— JP Finlay (@JPFinlayNBCS) May 11, 2024

Tough News.

This is rather unfortunate news as Newton was hoping to prove all of the teams that passed up on him wrong. Having injuries on both feet are also going to be very difficult to overcome, however, we do know that Newton is tough as nails and will never give up. Jer’Zhan played a good majority of this past season with the injury. He still wreaked havoc and recorded 7.5 sacks and 8.5 tackles for loss. Illinois football fans are all rooting for Newton to come back stronger than ever and to continue showing his utter dominance on the defensive line.

This article first appeared on Armchair Illini and was syndicated with permission.

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