The Wisconsin Badgers received a major blow this week with news that starting linebacker Jack Cichy has been lost for the season with a torn ACL.
In making the announcement, Badgers head coach Paul Chryst couldn’t help but feel bad for the fifth-year senior.
“You hate it for Jack. You only get so many chances to play this game and you never want to see a guy miss any of those opportunities,” Chryst said, via the program’s official website. “He’s one of the leaders of our team and I know he’ll be a big part of what we do moving forward this season.”
Cichy suffered a pectoral injury in a late-October win over Iowa last season. Despite this, the linebacker was still able to put up 60 tackles (seven for loss), two forced fumbles and 1.5 sacks in just seven games.
Cichy entered the 2017 season on the watch list for the Butkus Award and Nagurski Trophy. Needless to say, this is a major blow for a Wisconsin team that enters the season ranked in the top-10 nationally.