Saturday was the Tar Heels first scrimmage of fall camp for the 2022 season, as the team continues to progress towards the start of the season. While the positivity around the program has continued to grow heading into the season has continued to grow over the past couple of weeks, the team received a big blow following the scrimmage though involving one of the team’s top offensive weapons.
As first reported by Ross Martin of Inside Carolina, multiple sources are telling him that graduate senior wide receiver Antoine Green suffered an injury to his collarbone during the scrimmage. As of right now there is no timetable for his return, but it seems that the thinking from many is that he will be out for an extended period of time.
This is a tough blow for an offense that now has no proven weapons outside of Josh Downs. Green was coming into the season off of a strong finish to 2021 where he caught 20 passes for 359 yards and a team-high four touchdown receptions in the final six games. He finished the year with 31 receptions for 612 yards and five touchdowns, all career highs for him. This is another injury setback for him after his first two seasons were cut short due to injury.
The pressure will now be on a lot of players who have a lot of potential, but simply don’t have the track record. Sophomore Kobe Paysour has been raved about a lot this offseason and he will now need to be prepared to have a major impact right out of the gate. Fellow second-year sophomore J.J. Jones and junior Justin Olson, who both played significant roles for the team down the stretch of the season, could not once again be counted on to play some significant reps, especially early in the season. Sophomore tight end Bryson Nesbit split his time in the spring between tight end and wide receiver and may be needed to do that once again now following the injury. True freshman Andre Greene Jr. is the biggest beacon of hope, though, based on what he has shown early in fall camp. If he can continue to build on that over the next couple of weeks, he will likely have the chance to make an impact right out of the gate for the team.