Matt Rhule provides injury report, announces Nebraska freshman Maverick Noonan suffered season-ending injury

Some troubling news came out of Lincoln Tuesday as fall camp is in full swing for the Nebraska Cornhuskers, as head coach Matt Rhule revealed several injuries sustained already by numerous members of his team per Husker Online.

The most severe of the injuries was suffered by freshman linebacker Maverick Noonan who Rhule revealed suffered serious, season-ending knee injury at practice. Rhule clarified that is not an ACL injury, but that Noonan will have surgery this week and faces roughly a six-month recovery.

Noonan was a homegrown prospect who attended Elkhorn South in Nebraska, rated a three-star prospect and ranked the No. 58 EDGE and No. 644 overall player in the country according to On3’s Industry Ranking for the 2023 class.

Noonan enrolled at Nebraska early and in spring practice and his few fall camp practices flashed some positional versatility, showing the ability to work both at the linebacker and defensive end spots for the Cornhuskers’ defense. His size at 6-foot-3, 245 pounds, and his speed give him the tools at at a minimum be an effective edge rusher in the future, and hopefully his recovery is a speedy one as he now looks ahead to the 2024 season.

Rhule also announced that wide receivers Malachi Coleman and Zavier Betts who were not at Tuesday’s practice, are not dealing with any long-term injuries, and that wideout Marcus Washington is out with an ankle injury, but should be back in action by this weekend.

Like Noonan, Coleman was a part of the Cornhuskers’ most recent freshman signing class, but was the program’s top prospect. He too hails from within the state, attending Lincoln East high school just an hour away from Nebraska’s campus and was a four-star prospect rated No. 1 player in the state, the No. 10 wide receiver in the nation, and the No. 60 overall prospect in the country On3’s Industry Ranking.

Coleman’s already been lauded for his size, speed, and ability to grasp the offense early, and is expected by many to get significant snaps in his freshman season. Hopefully, he can return back to the practice field to continue working towards his potential collegiate debut against Minnesota alongside Betts and Washington.

Betts returns this season after sitting out in 2022, earning five starts as a true freshman in 2021 where he had caught 20 passes for 286 yards, also contributing in the run game with 109 yards on the ground and a rushing touchdown. Washington on the other hand returns after breaking out as the team’s second-leading receiver last season, and hopefully the two can return soon to build on foundation they’ve already established at the program prior to Rhule’s arrival.