How Two MSU Linemen Helped Each Other Through Devastating Injuries
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Michigan State's offensive line was hit with a couple of major setbacks last season, with two of its key guys going down with season-ending injuries.
First, it was redshirt junior guard Kristian Phillips, who ruptured his Achilles in Week 1 against Florida Atlantic after getting the start.
"Definitely a struggle," Phillips said of the road back. "That was my first major injury. So, it was horrible. The process was -- is was long. But I was able to get through it with the support that I have from this team. So, the process was very long. It was very hard on my mentals, so I'm just ready to get back out there and play."
Phillips said the psychological aspect of recovery was tougher than the physical, but it was his teammates who got him through it.
"These guys made me really just take my mind off the injury," said Phillips. "Watching them go out there and play and just practice and them just being around me and supporting me, that's really all I needed."
Broscious' injury
Just two games after he suffered his injury, Phillips' fellow classmate and former roommate, redshirt junior guard Gavin Broscious, went down with his own leg injury in the Spartans' Week 3 contest against Prairie View A&M. Broscious had missed the entirety of the 2023 season before that.
"When that happened with him (Broscious), I was probably one of the first ones to call him because we used to live together, that was my roommate," Phillips said. "So, as soon as that happened, I made sure I called him and made sure to tell him, 'You're not alone. We're going to get through this process together.'"
Of course, Phillips wasn't the only one who was there for his teammate. And just as was the case for him, so too was it the support of his teammates that helped Broscious get through it all.
"I had so many people text me as soon as it happened," Broscious said. "He (Phillips) was one of them, Nate Carter, he was one of them. They've all been a big help. Every single guy on this team was there for me. When I came back, they saw I was going through it. So, they definitely had my back through everything, and I think it's good having people to push you through it.
"And if you're getting sad and down on yourself, I have guys like him (Phillips), Ashton (Lepo), just telling me like 'Hey, you can't think that way, you got to push through it because you're so much better than what you're going through right now."
Together, Phillips and Broscious kept each other up, each dealing with the same situation.
"When we see each other in the training room, we just always do rehab together and we always just say, 'Hey, we're going to come back, and we're going to leave where we left off at,'" said Phillips. "So, it's just the reminder that, 'This pain is only temporary, injury is only temporary. We have probably about a few months to get back.' So, we just used that time, we spent time in that rehab room, and we've just been working. Keeping our head down, working."
Then that first practice came when both linemen were back on the field at once.
"We had a smile," Phillips said. "We had a smile at each other."
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