James Madison announced Monday that senior defensive end Jalen Green will miss the rest of the season with an undisclosed injury. Green, a 6-foot-1, 245-pounder from Baltimore, Maryland, suffered the injury after tallying four tackles during Saturday's 42-14 win over Georgia State. Green leads the nation in both tackles for loss (21) and sacks (15.5).
Green notched 2.5 sacks and three tackles for loss during the Dukes' previous game at Old Dominion, a performance which earned him National Defensive Player of the Week honors by the Walter Camp Foundation. With those 2.5 sacks, he set the Sun Belt single-season sack record previously held by Troy's Jonathan Massaquoi (13.5). He notched five sacks in the October 19 win over Marshall.
His impressive showing prior to injury has also served as a point of controversy. James Madison is only in its second season at the FBS level and still in the NCAA's transition period, so Green's stats are not counted in the NCAA's statistical database. Coach Curt Cignetti sounded off on that earlier this year.
That JMU Stats do not show up on the NCAA Stats is completely ridiculous, period.#GoDukes https://t.co/6j8zAY2mOF
— Curt Cignetti (@JMUCurtCignetti) October 20, 2023
The news that Green will miss the remainder of the season is massive blow to a Dukes team that is in the midst of a magical season. They sit at 9-0 (6-0 Sun Belt) and are ranked No. 21 in the most recent AP Top 25 with games against UConn, Appalachian State and Coastal Carolina left on the schedule. Because they're still in the aforementioned transition period, however, the Dukes are ineligible for the Sun Belt Conference Championship Game and postseason bowl games.
Cignetti spoke with College Sports Sunday on SiriusXM about the possibility of the NCAA granting his team a waiver before the end of the regular season.
"We're about championships here," he said. "We want to play in the conference championship. Our sights are set higher than a bowl game. I also believe that we should be a part of the College Football Playoff Rankings. I'm not saying that we should be in the top four or anything like that, but we should be in those rankings. Why shouldn't we be?"
James Madison will host UConn Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. ET.
