Brittain Brown undergoes season-ending surgery

Running back has battled shoulder issue

As coach David Cutcliffe hinted in his press conference earlier this week, Duke redshirt junior running back underwent surgery on Thursday to stabilize a left shoulder injury. He will miss the remainder of the 2019 season.

Brown has struggled to stay on the field this season, and Cutcliffe said on Tuesday that it was time to make a decision on Brown’s status.

“I’m concerned about Brittain Brown,” Cutcliffe said. “We’re at the point with the shoulder that we have to make a decision. I’ll visit with him. It’s been a hard year for him, emotionally. He had a tough year a year ago as well. We’re going to let you guys know, but we may make the decision to get him repaired. It’s just in his best interest. Certainly, that’s what you want to probably do. I’d love to have him. You saw the spark he gave our team a week ago. We’ll see what tomorrow brings.”

The surgical procedure was performed by Dr. Jonathan Riboh.

Brown has seen the field for just 42 snaps on offense and missed one game entirely. It’s the second straight year Brown has missed significant time. He sat out four games due to injury last season. In the last two years, he’s played a total of 299 snaps, 152 fewer than he played in his freshman season.
Brown used his redshirt year prior to his freshman season. He would have one year of eligibility remaining, unless the NCAA grants him a fifth year due to injury.