Injuries, suspensions continue to thin Illini depth chart

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The Illini’s depth chart keeps thinning ahead of the team’s season-opener against Kent State.

Illinois has had bad luck with injuries since the spring, and another struck Tuesday, when head coach Tim Beckman reported that defensive lineman Teko Powell re-aggravated the foot injury that has twice sidelined him since his arrival in Champaign.

Powell has two options with the injury, according to Beckman: He can either wait six weeks and attempt to retake the field, or he can have surgery. The surgery would be his third on the foot during his Illinois career and would knock him out for the entirety of the 2015 season.

Powell missed 10 games last season and was knocked out of spring practice before that.

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Additionally, Beckman said Wednesday that defensive back Caleb Day and defensive lineman Joe Fotu are suspended indefinitely after the duo violated team policy. It’s unknown whether they’ll miss the season-opener.

The Illini have a lengthy list of injured players, including wide receivers Mike Dudek and Justin Hardee, running backs Dre Brown and Reggie Corbin, safety Patrick Nelson and defensive lineman Jihad Ward. Dudek, Brown and Nelson all tore their ACLs during spring practice. Hardee is recovering from a broken foot. Corbin suffered a torn labrum in his shoulder earlier this month. And Ward had to have surgery on his injured knee last week.

But Beckman did deliver some good news Wednesday regarding Ward, saying that the defensive end could be back sooner than expected. He was initially expected to miss the Illini’s first two games of the season.

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