Elijah Roberts injury update: SMU star DE cleared to play vs. Virginia
As expected, star SMU defensive end Elijah Roberts is cleared to play Saturday at Virginia, sources confirmed to On3. Roberts was injured against Pitt, suffering a hand injury which caused him to miss the team’s 38-28 win over Boston College last week.
Head coach Rhett Lashlee, fresh off signing a contract extension this week, is excited to have Roberts back in the mix for the Mustangs. He’s fourth in the Power Four ranks in pressures with 44 on the year.
“Three bye weeks and a missed game due to injury doesn’t slow you down,” Lashlee tweeted. “Fired up to have you back with us.”
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Elijah Roberts has 22 tackles, six tackles for loss, three sacks and nine quarterback hurries on the year. For SMU, the team needs him at his best to help the Mustangs punch their ticket to the ACC Championship on Saturday.
Lashlee and his team is trying to be focused on the task at hand without looking ahead.
“No, you can’t let yourself go there. We have two games left, the job’s not done,” Lashlee said this week. “We all understand what’s in front of us and what opportunities we have. But if you sit around and think about that for too long, you won’t stay present. So, we have put ourselves in this position. It’s what we wanted to do. We talked about before the season; we wanted to prove we belong and try to put yourself in position in November to be playing for something, and we are. So that parts accomplished. Now we gotta go finish. We gotta go finish the deal. We get an opportunity that Saturday, so trying to stay focused on that.”
SMU kicks off against Virginia on Saturday at 11 a.m. CT on ESPN2.
