SEC Photo
Before Kentucky linebacker J.J. Weaver tore a knee ligament that ended his redshirt freshman season after 10 games, one of his former coaches had a message for him.
“I told him I expected him to play on Sundays (in the NFL) and I truly believe he will be on TV on Sundays despite this injury,” said Kevin Watson, Weaver’s defensive coordinator at Louisville Moore his senior season.
“If there is anybody who can come back from this injury, he will do it and prove people wrong. Don’t be surprised if he comes back and is all-SEC and really turns it on.”
Weaver had 21 solo tackles and 12 assists this season in 10 games before being injured. He had 6.5 tackles for loss and two quarterback hurries.
Weaver has had his surgery and posted on social media that the surgery went well.
Watson called it a “weird play” at the sideline near the end of the Florida game.
“He was laying down and I just expected him to get up and run across the field. The TV went to a commercial after he was down and when they came back he was just gone,” Watson said. “I don’t remember anything being said about him being hurt. Later I saw the announcement about his injury. I reached out to him because I knew he would be devastated. But he’ll do this right to get back. Kentucky will get him back and he will be better than ever. No doubt about that.”
Weaver had 70 tackles, 10 quarterback sacks, three interceptions and a fumble recovery the one year Watson, now the defensive coordinator at Fairdale, coached him at Moore.
“I always said, ‘If you don’t know J.J., you don’t know him. If you know him, you know him.’ He’s a great kid with a great family. His mom and stepdad attended every game,” Watson said. “They are all just wonderful people. I can’t sing their praises enough.
“Justin — that is what I call J.J. — is a special kid. The one short year I was with him at Moore he worked with special need kids. They looked to him as a god. They loved him and he took time to spend time with them and and not every star player would do that. He’s a very private young man but when he does speak, you know it means something to him.”
Watson said it was fun to coach him because he would do whatever a coach needed. He played nose guard, middle linebacker, outside linebacker, defensive end, fullback and tight end — he had six catches for 102 yards — his senior season. Rivals.com ranked him as the fourth best player in Kentucky and 14th best player in the nation at his position.
“He was just a special athlete. We all knew what he had in him,” Watson said. “He is a hard worker. He takes coaching and does what you tell him with no questions. He was so excited this year to get the chance to play more. He was like a kid on Christmas. That’s why it was so hard to see him go down.
“He could have coasted in high school because he was such a gifted athlete. Instead, he worked his butt off because he had his eye on bigger prizes.”
Watson says Weaver has become a “big deal” to younger players in Louisville. He says even his players at Fairdale who did not know Weaver would talk about “how good he was” at Kentucky.
“They all know him now,” Watson said. “He doesn’t talk a lot. He just doesn’t want the attention. He’s a special young man and we are awful proud of him. It has been a rough year for him. He redshirted as a true freshman, lost his dad last summer, had COVID disrupt everything and now this knee injury. It has been a really rough year but I am putting my money on him. He’ll be back.”
