Senior running back British Brooks, a team favorite and veteran presence in the locker room, suffered what is being described as a “lower body injury” during practice Saturday night which will keep him out for the entire 2022 season.

Brooks returned to the Tar Heels for a fifth season in 2022, hoping to build off a hot end to the 2021 season. In Carolina’s final three games last year, Brooks rushed for 285 yards and three touchdowns on just 27 carries. He had been named as a 2022 candidate for the Doak Walker Award, given to the nation’s best running back.

Brooks began his career at Carolina under head coach Larry Fedora as a non-scholarship special teams player, sitting behind the likes of Michael Carter and Javonte Williams at running back. Brooks’ work ethic quickly made an impression on new head coach Mack Brown, who rewarded Brooks with a scholarship in the spring of 2021. Brown later called Brooks “the ultimate story of success.”

Brooks’ injury is another blow to the UNC offense, which will be without the services of wide receiver Antoine Green for at least six weeks due to an injury suffered in practice. Fortunately for Carolina, running back still projects to be one of its deepest positions on the depth chart. Freshmen Omarion Hampton and George Pettaway join veterans D.J. Jones, Elijah Green and Caleb Hood in the backfield. Hood is coming off an injury of his own: the sophomore tore his quad in 2021 and played in just four games.

 

Featured image via UNC Athletic Communications/Anthony Sorbellini

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