Lincoln Riley Updates Status of Eric Gentry Following Offseason Surgery
USC linebacker Eric Gentry was one of the Trojans’ most impactful defensive players last fall in his first season after coming over from Arizona State. But Gentry suffered a significant ankle injury during the regular season game against Utah. He missed several games and never quite got back to 100% healthy. Just before spring ball was set to start, Gentry revealed via his Instagram that he was undergoing surgery.
Trojans’ head coach Lincoln Riley confirmed Tuesday that Gentry will miss the entirety of spring ball. But the surgery won’t impact Gentry long-term and the returning middle linebacker should be back for summer conditioning.
Riley was asked about the delay in having the surgery and why wait until just before spring ball.
“We took a look at it after the season,” he said. “I think there was certainly some hope that with a little bit of downtime and rest and rehab that he could potentially get back to 100% going the non-surgical route.”
Riley said the injury “just wasn’t making the progress that we wanted to make” over the course of the offseason, which led to the surgery. He added that Gentry would have missed all of spring ball regardless of when he had the surgery this offseason. In that case, there was no harm in seeing if it would correct itself without the procedure.
Riley had no hesitation saying Gentry would be cleared quickly after spring ball and get a full summer conditioning session in before being again full-go for the fall.
Gentry’s Different Spring Opportunity
He won’t be participating in pads this spring, but Riley found a silver lining in this for Gentry.
“This is a great chance for him, mentally,” Riley said. “You know, having played a year, been in the system, it’s a great chance for him to take a step back and really see it through a different perspective. See it from the coach’s point of view.”
Riley said Gentry is handling this with a positive attitude and “very high energy.” He’ll also use the spring to continue adding good weight.
Riley called it, “adding some of that mass that we obviously know that he needs.”
The 6-foot-6, 205-pound Gentry finished third on the Trojans last season with 71 tackles despite missing three full games and parts of others. He added two sacks, two forced fumbles, three pass breakups and an interception.
