BYU football player Colby Jorgensen fractured his neck and slipped a disc in his spine during practice Tuesday, requiring emergency surgery.
Jorgensen's brother, Austen, told the Daily Herald that the sophomore linebacker was undergoing a five- to six-hour surgical procedure to insert two rods to stabilize his neck.
"The big thing is getting a lot of prayers and sending love that way," Austen Jorgensen said. "But also I hope people feel free to reach out to him. You can feel pretty alone after the fact when you've been injured, so hopefully they'll check in and show the love. It's going to be a long recovery road and that means more than people even think."
The Salt Lake Tribune reported that Jorgensen was attempting to stop a ball carrier during the team's first scrimmage of fall camp Tuesday morning when the injury occurred.
Jorgensen was a tight end as a BYU freshman in 2011, but then went on a church mission and had only returned to the Cougars' football program for the 2015 spring term, at which point he was moved to linebacker.
UPDATE: It's been confirmed that Jorgensen is out for the season.
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