Finally healthy, Njongmeta eager to prove his worth at inside linebacker
MADISON, Wis. — It’s safe to say Maema Njongmeta is ready to put 2020 behind him. A year filled with some scares and injury setbacks, the sophomore inside linebacker is grateful to put on the pads each day, full well knowing there was a time when he wondered if he’d ever do it again.
In early September, Njongmeta contracted COVID-19. After his tests came back, doctors discovered a sack of liquid around his heart.
“It was probably one of the worst days I had on campus, just panicking,” Njongmeta told reporters during Wednesday’s ZOOM call. “Especially at the time, we didn’t know a lot about COVID. Was this the end of my season? End of my career? The doctors didn’t have any answers at that point, other than you can’t play or practice until further notice.
“That was definitely a rough stretch.”
Upon further testing, it turns out the sack of liquid around Njongmeta’s heart was something he had his whole life.
“I’m great now. It was sort of — I don’t want to say a false alarm, because my EKG (electrocardiogram) did change,” he said. “There’s just some naturally occurring things already in my heart, certain structures in a way — normally you either have that because you were born that way or because of COVID. There were no prior scans of my heart, so they assumed it was the COVID.
“I’m good now, healthy, but boy, a situation like that makes you grateful for practice every day.”
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The COVID scare also came on the heels of an injury suffered in the off-season.
With spring practice canceled during the start of the pandemic, Njongmeta was lifting weights without, admittedly, proper equipment or form. While back home, Njongmeta suffered a hernia and underwent surgery the following July.
After his rehab, Njongmeta returned for fall camp, but tore a muscle in his groin during the first week of practice.
“That’s life, sometimes,” he said.
Njongmeta did return to action in December and played in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl victory over Wake Forest, his first career appearance after redshirting in 2019.
Back to 100 percent, Njongmeta has been working with the second-team defense during spring practice. Backing up returning starters, Jack Sanborn and Leo Chenal, Njongmeta hopes to use the spring as a time to play catch-up.
“The biggest question has been durability,” Njongmeta explained. “I’ve proven thus far I can be durable. Last year was a fluke. It’s just how quickly can I learn everything? When I know what I want to do, I’m explosive and quick to the point of attack.
“Right now, it’s just been trying to learn from guys like Leo and Jack who have done it in a Big Ten Championship, done it a bowl game. Picking up practice habits from them and just trusting the process.”
Sanborn, the team’s leading tackler each of the last two seasons, has been impressed thus far.
“This year been able to see him really get that grasp of the playbook,” Sanborn said. “Not only that, just playing football. Just how he flows, he’s got an ability to just slip his way through traffic, which is sometimes insane.
“Sometimes you’re like, ‘Wow, that’s really impressive.'”
A former three-star recruit, Njongmeta was a hidden gem in the class of 2019. Originally committed to walk-on at Stanford, Njongmeta only had one other power-five scholarship coming out of Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, Ill. While he didn’t make an on-field appearance, Njongmeta often traveled with the team on the road as a true freshman.
There’s still plenty of off-season left, but Njongmeta is on track to round out the two-deep and potentially steal some meaningful snaps in 2021.
“Halfway through camp, he’s doing some really good things,” inside linebackers coach Bob Bostad said. “Things that we saw when he was a high school player that we really, really liked. He’s definitely one of those guys that I was hinting about and is having a good camp right now.
“As we have more of this camp and get into the fall, I would feel good about him being in that spot.”
Turner, Reed Banged Up
Bostad was asked about redshirt freshman inside linebackers Jordan Turner and Malik Reed, two top of the board additions in the 2020 recruiting class.
“They’ve been able to go in the beginning and then they weren’t,” said Bostad. “As of right now, it’s kind of up in the air. We’ll go into tomorrow and see where they’re at when we get a report on injuries.
“I would say those young guys are trending up. I have a hard time going much further than that. We’re kind of at a standstill right now with some of those players and the way their health is.”
