INDIANAPOLIS – Colorado wide receiver Laviska Shenault Jr., one of the top wide receiver prospects available in this year’s NFL draft, will have surgery in the coming week to repair a core muscle injury, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
The surgery will sideline Shenault for at least four to six weeks, the source said.
Evaluators told ESPN on Saturday night that they will now proceed in their pre-draft work as if Shenault will not participate in the Buffaloes’ pro day or have an individual workout before the April 23-25 draft.
Shenault is expected to have the surgery Tuesday, and it will be performed by Dr. William Myers in Philadelphia. Shenault had visited Myers in the weeks leading up to the combine.
ESPN’s Mel Kiper has Shenault as the No. 5 wide receiver in the draft in his latest rankings.
Shenault only ran the 40-yard dash Thursday night when the wide receivers worked out at the combine, turning in a slower-than-expected time of 4.58. Shenault did not participate in any other portion of the workout.
When he was asked Tuesday about how much he would work out, Shenault had said: “I wasn’t able to train for everything because of my injury. I had to do a lot of resting and rehabbing. But I was only able to train for the 40.”
The DeSoto, Texas, native is one of the most versatile players on the board, having finished his career at Colorado with 149 catches, 42 rushing attempts and 17 total touchdowns. He also returned his only kickoff return of his college career for 54 yards.
Teams have privately expressed some concern over Shenault’s injury history overall. This latest injury comes after surgeries on his shoulder and toe after the 2018 season.
Shenault has played through those injuries at times; he played nine games in 2018 to go along with 11 games this season.
“Definitely difficult,” Shenault said of the injuries earlier this week. “But I love the sport too much to just shut it down. And I just wanted to be a team player. Like I said, I love the sport too much, so I just had to keep playing and keep fighting through it and just produce as much as I could.”