UW Defensive Tackle Suffers Third Straight Season-Ending Injury

LARAMIE -- Jay Sawvel, just two weeks ago, spoke about the value Caleb Robinson brings not only to the field, but the locker room.

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The 300-pound defensive tackle has been on the roster since 2020, the same season Sawvel arrived in Laramie as the team's defensive coordinator. Though the two often joke about that fact, what happened last Saturday evening was no laughing matter.

Robinson will miss a third consecutive season after suffering his second torn ACL, Wyoming's third-year head coach announced on Friday. The Omaha, Neb., product also ruptured his Achilles tendon last July during summer conditioning.

"Your heart breaks for the young man, who's put that much effort into it. That's a painful thing, as a coach," Sawvel said on Monday, adding Robinson was on the field for just 15 defensive snaps in the Cowboys' second scrimmage of fall camp. The non-contact injury occurred while chasing the quarterback. "We'll just support him and wish him the best."

The graduate student was also involved in a head-on collision at 40 miles per hour in the spring of 2023. His left thumb and right big toe bore the brunt of the impact. That caused Robinson to miss a chunk of fall camp. He appeared in 11 games, tallying just nine tackles.

Robinson, who is now 24, said two weeks ago he was definitely exhausted with the injury talk. He was eager to get back on the field, joining a talented interior group that includes Dante Drake, Jayden Williams, Tanielu Maafala-Barbasa, Alex Haswell, Ja'Quan Redfern, Tegen Seeds and others.

Admittedly, he had already been daydreaming about making his first tackle -- and against Colorado State, no less.

"It's excitement," Robinson said. "That's all I can really feel. It's just excitement now because, I put in the work, put in the time, did everything I needed to do and now it's time to reap what I sowed."

Deonte Gibson was looking forward to that, too.

"He's enjoying the process of getting good," Wyoming's defensive tackles coach said. "Now, he's enjoying the process of competing. I think he's just taking it step by step, and I think that's been the best approach."

Gibson, who suffered numerous injuries himself as a player at Northwestern, said he could relate with Robinson and the emotion of "not being yourself." It hurt him, personally, to watch the veteran go down the last two seasons.

"I think they can kind of see that I'm empathetic to it, but at the same time, I'm going to still push you, because I know it's more of a mental hurdle now that's going to get you back versus the physical," he added.

Williams said "tears started rushing" when the extent of Robinson's injury was revealed to the group.

"It's just a loss for words," the junior said, adding Robinson has been the veteran leader of that unit since he came on his visit to Laramie ahead of the 2023 season. "Everyone was silent for like 20 minutes after that text came to the defensive tackles room. And, at that point, we could only pray for him and hope that his head is in a good space because, you know, this happened the last two years."

Wyoming will open the season Saturday at Colorado State. Kickoff is slated for 4 p.m. and the game will be televised on USA Network.

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