Rutgers DL Aaron Lewis injured vs. Wisconsin

Rutgers defensive lineman Aaron Lewis was injured on the first defensive series against Wisconsin Saturday.

At the time, he laid face down on the turf while being tended to by the medical staff. The extent of the injury was unknown.

Lewis appeared to injure his shoulder while going in for a tackle. A stalwart since he transferred from Michigan, Lewis is a key cog on the veteran Scarlet Knights’ defense.

It was noted on the broadcast that Lewis went up the tunnel to exit the field with his shoulder pads off and a towel over his shoulder. It was reported he’d go to the locker room for further evaluation.

Lewis eventually returned to the field in the second quarter.

Coming into the game, Lewis had 15 total tackles, two tackles for loss, a sack and one pass deflection in five games in 2024. A fifth-year man for Rutgers, Lewis has 8.5 career sacks and 163 total tackles in his college career.

As a member of the Class of 2020, Lewis was a three-star recruit out of Williamstown (N.J.) High, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He was the No. 13 overall prospect in the state, the No. 30 EDGE in the class and the No. 470 overall prospect in the class.

Aaron Lewis injured in Rutgers game vs. Wisconsin

Lewis was set to try and improve the Rutgers pass rush coming into the game. It’s an area of concern through five games.

But head coach Greg Schiano acknowledged what he’s seen through the first half of the season.

“Great question and I probably should have talked about the four sacks, right, because as much of a concern as the tackling was against Washington, lack of pressure on the quarterback was a concern,” Schiano said this week. “You know, we won the Washington game and Washington left sick to their stomach, just like we left Nebraska sick to our stomach. Welcome to the Big Ten; that’s part of the landscape.

“But we didn’t get off the quarterback very well two weeks ago. This week I thought it was a different story, and I thought that our guys applied pressure, even when we weren’t sacking, we were disrupting the quarterback’s rhythm and that’s very, very important. Everybody wants to talk about the sacks. But when you disrupt the rhythm, it shows on the other end. When the balls are errantly thrown, interceptions occur.”

Like Lewis has alluded to in the past, Schiano maintained it’s about building each week.

“And like you said, it was different people from different levels of our defense. I was really excited about that,” he said. “Something to build on, again. I think it gives these guys some juice now; let’s go. There was a time here when we were really getting after the quarterback and we waned a little bit.

“But that’s a big part of what you have to do without giving up the run defense, again, when you go after the quarterback all the time. It’s a delicate balance but you have to be able to do it. Otherwise, in this league, there’s a lot of good quarterbacks who can throw with good timing that will make you pay.”