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Today is media day at Michigan State, where there is plenty of optimism on campus.
Unfortunately, there’s also some bad news coming out of the Mark Dantonio press conference.
Due to a non-contact injury, rising sophomore cornerback and third-team All-Big Ten honoree Josiah Scott will be out two months.
Dantonio says Josiah Scott is out for two months with an injury.
— Chris Solari (@chrissolari) August 6, 2018
If that two month timeline is accurate and no setbacks occur, Scott will be back in action somewhere around the Northwestern game on Oct. 5 and the Penn State game on Oct. 13.
The game that really gets interesting now is the Sept. 8 showdown at Arizona State, where rising junior and first team All-Pac 12 member N’Keal Harry will look to capitalize on the injury.
There isn’t much bright side to this, but one slice of optimism is the fact that the defensive backfield has some nice depth. This will give Josh Butler, Kalon Gervin or perhaps Xavier Henderson to step in and make an impact. Luckily there’s already another lockdown corner on the other side of the field in Justin Layne.
Or, if you talk to the players, they would suggest another name too.
I talked to all four members of the secondary here at media day (Khari Willis, Justin Layne, David Dowell, Matt Morrissey)
— Nathaniel Bott (@Nathaniel_Bott) August 6, 2018
When I asked about potential early replacements for Josiah Scott, the first name out of everyone’s mouth was Shakur Brown. He’s been turning heads in camp.
Starting defensive end Dillon Alexander is also out an unspecified amount of time, also suffering a non-contact injury.
Dantonio says Josiah Scott's injury was non-contact. Says DE Dillon Alexander was also lost in a non-contact injury.
— Matt Wenzel (@mwenzel2) August 6, 2018
His absence could be more troubling than Scott’s just based on the lack of depth the defensive end position holds.