Otaro Alaka Injury: Updates on Texas A&M LB's Shoulder and Recovery

The Texas A&M Aggies defense suffered a big blow Tuesday, as head coach Kevin Sumlin confirmed sophomore linebacker Otaro Alaka will miss the rest of the season after suffering elbow and labrum injuries, according to Suzanne Halliburton of the Statesman.

Continue for updates.   

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Alaka Will Be Ready for Next Season After Surgery

Wednesday, Oct. 21

After an impressive freshman season in 2014 that culminated with Alaka being named Liberty Bowl Defensive MVP, 2015 could have been a breakout campaign for the young linebacker. Instead, his season is over after 12 total tackles in three games. Sumlin talked on Tuesday about the woes his players have gone through this season, per Halliburton.

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It’s been a tough time for him. He dislocated an elbow in fall camp, had a serious illness in the family, came back and…had a torn labrum, about three quarters of it. The decision was made to just have him have surgery and he’ll fall under the time frame that we’ll apply for a medical redshirt. I think he’ll get this year back and it’s a time for him to get better mentally and physically. With the surgery being this early, we’ll have the opportunity to get him back for spring ball and we’ll need him.

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Sumlin seems positive for now, and it's not like the Aggies have a huge hole to fill considering Alaka had only played sparingly.

However, it's still bad news for a defense that may have been holding out hope for his return. The Aggies defense is only allowing about 19 points per game in SEC play—if you don't count the 21 points scored by the Alabama Crimson Tide defense against Texas A&M last week—and will certainly find a way to move on without its linebacker.

It remains to be seen if Alaka will be awarded the medical redshirt, but it certainly would be a huge lift for the team if he entered next season with three years of eligibility.