Cal Football: Brett Johnson's Comeback Derailed By New Season-Ending Injury

The Bears' standout defensive lineman suffered unrelated injury on Thursday.

UPDATED

Cal defensive lineman Brett Johnson, who expected to make a return to action after missing all of the 2021 schedule following hip surgery, will instead be out for the season, coach Justin Wilcox announced Saturday, due to a lower-body injury suffered in practice two days earlier.

“Brett, unfortunately, is going to miss the 2022 campaign. Just devastating for him. Everybody’s hurting for him,” Wilcox said.

Johnson was seen taken by cart off the field and through the north tunnel at Memorial Stadium toward the end of Thursday’s practice, then used crutches to enter the football facility.

Wilcox did not reveal specifics of Johnson’s latest injury but he won’t be available to play this season, which begins next Saturday at home against UC Davis. Wilcox declined to say whether Johnson will require surgery.

Wilcox said Johnson's latest issue is unrelated to the hip injury.

“He’s as tough an individual as I’ve been around on the football field, physically and mentally,” Wilcox said. “Brett will be back. He’ll be at full strength, but it will be some time from now. We’ll be there to support him.”

Johnson, regarded as perhaps Cal’s best player, was not available for comment after the Bears’ practice on Saturday morning.

A 6-foot-5, 295-pound junior from Phoenix, Johnson missed the entire 2021 campaign after suffering a hip fracture in a car accident the previous spring.

In spite of that, ESPN's Todd McShay had listed Johnson as the No. 40 prospect for the 2023 NFL draft.

Asked how Johnson is coping emotionally, Wilcox said, “I don’t want to speak for him, but as you can image, like we all would be, pretty frustrated, devastated. He puts a lot of time into this. The amount of time and energy he put into his initial rehab was so impressive.”

He returned to practice on a limited basis this past spring, a year after the hip injury, and had performed well in fall camp, Wilcox said.

In an interview with Cal Sports Report on Tuesday evening, Johnson expressed excitement for his expected return to face the Aggies next week.

“I’m sure there’ll be some nerves, some butterflies in my stomach. But I don’t have any fear about anything,” he said. “I’m confident in my abilities. I’m confident in my training so far. I’ve had a good camp. I’m just excited to get back out there.”

Cal defensive line coach Andrew Browning, who has worked with Johnson since his arrival on campus, said early this week the player he watched all month in practice appeared ready to go.

“To my eyes and to the eyes of everybody else in the program,” Browning said, “he looks like the exact same player as before the injury.”

Johnson said he believed that would merely be his starting point this season. “I expect to be at least as good as I was before,” he said. “And from there, build upon it and become better.”

Now the Bears must adjust without him. In the video above, Wilcox lists Ricky Correia, Ethan Saunders, Jaedon Roberts, Darius Long, Gunnar Rask, Akili Calhoun and freshman Nate Burrell as players whose roles could expand.

“There’s not one guy you just slide into his spot. Brett’s an accomplished player,” Wilcox said. “But these other guys have been working hard, and it’ll be their time.”

Calhoun, a red-shirt freshman from the East Bay, has been sidelined by injury but Wilcox said he could be cleared by mid-week.

Cover photo of Brett Johnson by Kyle Terada, USA Today

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo