Makai Lemon Injury Update: Lincoln Riley provides update on USC receiver
The USC Trojans and wide receiver Makai Lemon experienced a scary situation during Saturday’s game against the Michigan Wolverines when Lemon was hit by a Michigan player on a USC punt and stayed down on the ground for an extended period.
Lemon eventually got up and walked to the sideline with some light help from the USC training staff. He did not return to the game. The CBS announcing team speculated that it could have been flagged as a blindside block but there was no flag thrown and no review for targetting despite the hit looking at least at shoulder level if not at the head.
“He’s doing good,” Riley said on his Monday appearance on Trojans Live. “He’s rebounded back well, I think as good as you could possibly hope for with that scary of a situation.”
Riley said he believes the injury stemmed more from the “whiplash effect” of his helmet hitting the ground than taking the actual hit from the Michigan player.
“You obviously never want to see that,” Riley said. “Thankfully bounced back well, was able to fly home with us that night and is doing very well.”
The sophomore receiver has four catches for 45 yards and a touchdown this season for USC.
After dropping a heartbreaker to Michigan this past weekend, USC will return home to face the Wisconsin Badgers in a sold-out Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The Trojans will be looking for their first Big Ten conference win in program history and will be facing off against some familiar faces as former defensive coordinator Alex Grinch is the safeties coach for the Badgers and former linebacker Tackett Curtis is now in Madison via the transfer portal.
If Lemon can’t go in that one, USC will likely turn to slot receiver Jay Fair as they did against Michigan. Fair responded well to the increased playing time with Lemon out, catching three passes for 42 yards and a touchdown. Lemon was also a key special teams piece in coverage and the return game. Wide receiver Josiah Zamora replaced him on the kickoff return unit.
