SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Utah wide receiver Britain Covey announced on social media that he is dealing with a hamstring injury.

The star wideout did not play in Utah’s 33-17 loss to the USC Trojans on Saturday in their season opener. He warmed up on the field before the game but did not play in the game.

Covey revealed his hamstring injury in an Instagram post on Tuesday afternoon.

“In football terms, the last 2 years have been tough,” Covey wrote. “As many know, I tore my ACL/meniscus vs. Washington in December 2018. I rehabbed extremely hard all year, but soon realized that no matter how hard I worked, I couldn’t force my knee to heal itself. I decided to redshirt in 2018 and dedicate the next 300+ days to fully recovering and getting stronger. I can finally say that my surgically repaired knee is my good one! Even stronger and more flexible than the other.

“I’ve been SO excited to get back out there and fell like I’m a better player than I’ve ever been. I’d been mostly healthy leading up to this season, then literally 40 hours before kickoff of the first game (and with only 20 minutes left in practice) I tweaked my hamstring,” Covey continued. “It was extremely frustrating and I remember thinking how unfair it was (especially after last year and that I had really tried to do my part). Before that practice I had even knelt down to specifically ask that God protect my hamstring (as it was feeling tight).”

 

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A post shared by Britain Covey (@brit_covey2)

Different Perspective On Injury

Because of the #GiveThanks trend on social media, Covey developed a different perspective on his hamstring injury.

“The next day I went into President Nelson’s message looking for healing, comfort, a way to ease my frustrations, etc… a message about gratitude was NOT what I was expecting/wanting to hear as he said, ‘it flies in the face of our natural intuitions,'” Covey added to his IG post. “However, I took his advice and have spent the last few days ‘counting my blessings, rather than recounting my problems.’ I have an almost infinite amount of things to be grateful for. Amazing friends, a wonderful family, a supportive spouse, privileges, opportunities and the fact that my hamstring is not as bad as the initial diagnoses. So many things I can’t even name them! And above all, Jesus Christ.

“Christ really is the one thing in our lives that will always stay constant, even as everything around us may change. People are not perfect, but Christ is – and he loves all people,” Covey continued. “I know he lives and that we can get to know him, and for that I am grateful!”

#GiveThanks

Covey’s use of the hashtag, “GiveThanks,” is in response to a request by President Russell M. Nelson.

On Friday, November 20, the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints asked that people share posts on social media about what they are grateful for during the next week. As posts of gratitude are shared, President Nelson suggested using the hashtag, “GiveThanks.”

The Utes are scheduled to face the Arizona State Sun Devils on Sunday, November 29.

Trevor Allen is a Utah Utes Insider for KSLSports.com and host of the Crimson Corner podcast. Follow him on Twitter: @TrevorASports. You can download and listen to the podcast, here.