News broke earlier on Monday that Illinois running back Mike Epstein suffered a season-ending knee injury during the team’s 42-3 win over Akron in Week 1.

It goes without saying that Epstein — a junior tailback who averaged over six yards per carry during his freshman and sophomore campaigns — will be missed. Season-ending injuries aren’t anything new for Epstein, as his first two season in Champaign have been cut short because of them.

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A few hours after the news broke, Epstein issued a statement on social media:

This is very encouraging to see from Epstein. He has been through a lot of devastating injuries already in his brief three-year career at Illinois and so to see that his mindset is where it is right now is awesome if you’re a Fighting Illini fan.