Huskers tight end room battling injuries

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - A lot of changes are happening on the offensive side of the ball for Nebraska. Tight ends Coach Sean Beckton said Wednesday offensive coordinator Mark Whipple is designing plays to get the ball in the hands of the TEs more.

The catch is can the position group stay healthy? Especially when it comes to the veteran players. Senior Travis Vokolek has played in more games than any other tight end on the roster, but he’s currently sitting out due to undisclosed injury. The next Huskers with the most in-game experience is sophomore Chris Hickman having played in 15 games and Senior Chancellor Brewington who has played 10 games in a Nebraska uniform. Beckton stated that both Hickman and Brewington are currently injured.

After Vokolek, Hickman, and Brewington, there’s are sharp drop off when it comes to on-field time.

”Those guys that are hurt right now are, they’re coaching. So they’re involved in quite a bit so they’re taking their reps mentally even though they’re not out there physically getting it done. They’ve got a script in hand and then they’re going through the play mentally through themselves and coaching up the guys. If a guy makes a mistake, what can we do better? I would’ve done it a little bit differently here. And it’s given those are other guys-- take more reps so they can fine tune what they’re trying to get done offensively,” said Beckton Wednesday after Spring practice.

Some of the more inexperienced tight ends are taking advantage of the extra snaps.

”I’ve been taking a lot of reps and they’ve just been making me better. Nate Boerkircher, I’ve been working with him and he set the standard and so everyday I’m just trying to do what he does or even better and just keep going up the chart,” said tight end AJ Rollins.

In just over a week, Whipple’s new offense will be on display for the public for the first time during Nebraska’s Spring Game on April 9th at 1pm.

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