[Update] Brett Hundley Will Miss Part of UCLA's Fall Camp From Knee Surgery: Red-shirt to Follow?

Last April we twice wondered if Brett Hundley would redshirt.

That possibility inched closer to reality with today's news that Hundley had torn his meniscus playing basketball. The injury mandates surgery and Hundley will miss at least the first half of fall camp. Jon Gold has the story on his blog and so does the L.A. Times. 

Hundley, you surely recall, graduated early from his Arizona high school and enrolled at UCLA in time for spring practice. What this does to his status this season remains unclear. On one hand, he can redshirt and come back next year with four years of eligibility left. But that would derail Rick Neuheisel's plans, which rumors suggest had Hundley playing 10-15 plays a game in a package designed to play to the freshman's strengths. Much also depends on the health of returning quarterbacks Kevin Prince and Richard Brehaut.

Update (A): From ESPN LA:

"He hurt it playing basketball," Neuheisel said, "but he'll be back before long. I'm excited that he had as much work as he did prior to that." [...]

Neuheisel said the injury doesn't mean Hundley will automatically be redshirted.

"I think he'll still make an impact this season," Neuheisel said.

Anyway you look at it, this is not fun news in the short-term. It sucks. We wish Hundley a healthy and speedy recovery. We hope he is not rushed because we believe he can have a happy and successful career at UCLA. Who knows. Red-shirting may turn out to be a blessing in disguise and overall a good thing for the program in the long term.