PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Tyreem Powell is out for the season, but that didn’t stop the Rutgers football linebacker from being a part of the gameday experience on Saturday.
During pre-game stretching, Powell filed through the lines of his teammates stretching, giving a handshake and a pep talk as he went through the progression. Last week, Powell had hand surgery that will shelve him for the remainder of the season.
Powell was having a very strong junior season. He had 52 total tackles, two sacks, a forced fumble and two passes defended. Although his season was cut short, it was still a good resume-building campaign for Powell, who is looking like an NFL draft pick.
Rutgers linebacker Tyreem Powell, who had surgery last week and is out for the year, making the rounds with his teammates. Powell is going up to each player as they stretch for a handshake. #Rutgers pic.twitter.com/KIVvWb3uXF
— Kristian Dyer (@KristianRDyer) November 4, 2023
Fellow Rutgers linebacker Mo Toure talked this week about the impact Powell had on the team. Having had a season-ending injury last spring, Toure can understand and relate to what is going on with Powell.
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“When I heard he got hurt it felt like I got hurt too because I went through an injury and I know how he feels and it just sucks to see someone like your brother – you know somebody that you call your brother – I actually treat him like family,” Toure said.
“I look at him like family…and go down in a situation like that hurts but he knows we’re here for him and he’s still here for us. He comes out to practice, supports us, talks to us. Talk to us through practice and everybody on defense knows like, we had to take it to that next level because he played a big portion in our defense so we’re all just communicating better and playing better – just trying to play together.”