Jamal Abdur-Rahman injury: Villanova all-purpose weapon to miss rest of 2013 regular season

The Villanova receiving (and running) corps took another hit yesterday, when head coach Andy Talley announced that redshirt sophomore Jamal Abdur-Rahman would end his season by having knee surgery this week. The slot receiver and sometimes-tailback and kick returner returned to the football field this season after being suspended from games last Fall over an off-campus incident.

He launched his season with a splash at Boston College, where he scored the opening touchdown of the game on a fake punt that made it to the top of ESPN's top plays. Abdur-Rahman has caught 18 balls for 225 yards, carried the rock 30 times for 186 yards and returned four kickoffs for 114 yards, along with two touchdowns.

He was suffering from a torn meniscus in his knee, which players can sometimes play through.

Fellow receiver, Joe Price, is also out for the count with a back issue. Talley has stated that Price might be out for the season, but there is a chance that the tall outside receiver could return for the season-finale at PPL Park.

Abdur-Rahman is done for the regular season on the news of his surgery, but the recovery period is normally 3-6 weeks, so there remains a chance that he could return to the team if they earn a bid to the FCS playoffs. The playoffs will begin the weekend after Thanksgiving this year.

He has likely played in too many games to earn a medical redshirt and a sixth year of eligibility from the NCAA at this point. Those waivers are normally available to athletes who appear in fewer than 30% of his or her team's competitions (and none after the mid-point of the season). Abdur-Rahman has already appeared in five games for Villanova this season, nearly half of the team's 11-game schedule.