As fall camp continues, there are bound to be a few players who get banged up here and there, but getting to Week 1 with as few injuries as possible is the main goal for every college football team. Unfortunately for Illinois, two injuries are threatening to deplete Bret Bielema's pass-catching depth.
On Thursday, Bielema spoke to the media, bringing the usual updates on fall camp. However, instead of positive injury updates, like when he said Xavier Scott and Matthew Bailey are 100% again, he had a couple of bad news updates.
Bielema reported that FIU transfer wide receiver Alex Perry is out with a lingering injury that he wasn't able to fully recover from and is set to have surgery this week. Bielema wasn't optimistic that Perry would see the field this year and could already be out for the season. Also, redshirt freshman tight end BJ Thurman has a Jones fracture in his foot and could miss the majority of the season.
While these aren't injuries to starters, it does hit the depth of the pass-catchers available for Illinois, and, of course, you never want to see anyone go down, especially before the season even starts.
Alex Perry's injury opens the door for Brayden Trimble to step up big for Illinois
When talking about Perry's injury, Bielema was honest in saying he probably was going to be more of a second-string role player, mainly playing on the outside, rotating into Collin Dixon's spot. Right now, the starting three receivers for Illinois will be Dixon, Hudson Clement, and FAU transfer Jayshon Platt, but Perry was expected to be in the mix with his wealth of college football experience.
Now with Perry out, that role is open for the taking, and freshman Brayden Trimble has a big opportunity to step up. Trimble has already created solid buzz for himself in fall camp, and now with Perry's spot open, he could turn that buzz into real playing time.
"Brayden Trimble has come into his own," Bielema said. "Brayden can play a little of inside and outside, he's a little bit like Collin [Dixon], so I would say it would even put a little more emergence on Brayden."
Trimble came to Illinois as a three-star prospect out of Mt. Zion, a place Bielema has recruited from quite a bit. The 6-foot-2, 170-pound wide receiver chose to redshirt last season, but now could see a good number of snaps early this season.
Bielema also named Nate Cichy, a late addition in the Class of 2026, as someone who has impressed a lot in fall camp and could play himself into the rotation. Another young in-state prospect who came to Illinois as a three-star recruit, committing back in early June.
It is huge that both Trimble and Cichy are going to get into the rotation this season. Obviously, it is significant to lose Perry, even if he was mainly going to be a role guy, but now two young guys will get to see the field more than anticipated this season, helping their development for the future at Illinois.
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