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Kenny Willekes has a message for injured Indiana OL Coy Cronk
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Kenny Willekes knows exactly what Coy Cronk is going through right now. Understanding the situation the Indiana offensive lineman is enduring, Willekes is offering his thoughts and prayers.
Last week, Cronk suffered a season-ending injury in the Hoosiers’ 38-3 win over UConn. IU’s best offensive lineman who was in his senior season will have to watch the final eight games of the year from the sideline.
This week, The Hoosiers travel to East Lansing to take on Michigan State. Last season, in MSU’s bowl game against Oregon, Willekes went down with a similar injury, essentially forcing him to return to East Lansing rather than pursuing a career in the NFL a year early.
While Willekes met with the media this week, he offered his condolences to Cronk.
“I actually heard about that. I met him at Big Ten Media Day, so my thoughts and prayers are out to him,” Willekes said, in a video posted on Twitter by Carter Landis. “I think he did the exact same thing I did, so that was not fun to go through. You never want to see another player get hurt, so my thoughts and prayers go out for him.”
Cronk’s injury means Indiana will have to be creative along the offensive line, especially against an outstanding defensive front in Michigan State. The Hoosiers have struggled to run the football early this year, and Cronk’s absence certainly doesn’t make life any easier.
Both Indiana and Michigan State enter Saturday’s game with a 3-1 record. The Spartans are 1-0 in conference play with a win over Northwestern last weekend. The Hoosiers dropped their B1G opener to Ohio State two weeks ago.
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB