BYU Cougars

BYU linebacker Colby Jorgensen fractures neck in practice

Published Aug. 12, 2015 10:52 a.m. ET

foxsports

Colby Jorgensen, a sophomore linebacker at BYU, sustained a broken neck and slipped disc during practice Tuesday, forcing him into a lengthy emergency surgery, according to the Daily Herald in Provo, Utah.

The injury required doctors to insert one rod in the back of Jorgensen’s neck and another in the front for stabilization.

"It's going to be a long road to recovery," Austen Jorgenson, Colby’s brother, said Tuesday night while Colby was in the third hour of a five- to six-hour surgery. "We'll know the exact details after he comes out of surgery. The doctors were confident that there wouldn't be any hiccups, but they need to do the back, then flip him over and do the front."

Jorgensen, a 2011 signee, recently returned to the team after a two-year Mormon mission in Canada.

(h/t Sporting News)