Chance Rucker injury update: Michigan State CB expected to miss 6-8 weeks

Michigan State Spartans head coach Jonathan Smith met with the media in the lead-up to Week 3 of the season. There, he shared an injury update on cornerback Chance Rucker.

Unfortunately, for Rucker and the Spartans, he’ll be expected to miss the next six to eight weeks of the season, though he didn’t share the exact nature of the injury. That puts his estimated return time somewhere in late October as of this moment.

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“Injury wise Chance Rucker is gonna be longer term,” Jonathan Smith said. “Upper body. But you’re not gonna see him probably for six to eight weeks, which is unfortunate because I did think he was progressing. That’ll be the next man up kind of mentality.”

Rucker went down with the injury in the second half of the win over Maryland. Smith decided not to be more specific than to call it an upper-body injury.

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Chance Rucker came to Michigan State as a three-star recruit in the Class of 2023, according to the On3 Industry Rankings. He was the 45th-ranked cornerback in that recruiting cycle and the 411th-ranked player overall.

Through two games, Rucker was proving to be a key corner in the Michigan State secondary. He was able to start the game against FAU before becoming the first corner off the bench against Maryland. This comes a season after he played in all 12 games as a freshman, starting in eight of those contests. He was also tied for second among the Big Ten freshmen in passes defended with five. So, finding a way to replace what he brings to the defense isn’t going to be easy for Smith.

For his career, Chance Rucker has played in 14 games and has 24 total tackles to go with an interception and four pass breakups.

The injuries are starting to stack up for Jonathan Smith. Dillon Tatum, who played safety against FAU and was a corner in 2023, is out for the year after suffering an injury in Week 1. That makes for a pair of blows to the team’s secondary depth. Then, offensive lineman Kristian Phillips is also expected to be out “long-term,” according to Smith.

Michigan State returns home in Week 3 to play Prairie View A&M and will need to find a way to address those injuries.