Illinois RB Dre Brown to miss second straight season

Illinois running back Dre Brown will miss his second straight season.

The redshirt freshman announced Tuesday night that he suffered a torn ACL during practice on Monday and will miss the 2016 season. Brown missed all of 2015 after tearing the ACL in his right knee last spring and indicated in a Twitter message that his football future is not clear.

[Check out Dr. Saturday on Tumblr for entertaining things you won’t see on the blog]

According to the Chicago Tribune, Brown was expected to be a “major contributor” to the Illini offense in 2016, serving as one of the main backups to Ke’Shawn Vaughn.

Brown is the second Illinois player to tear an ACL in back-to-back years. The program announced earlier in the month that wide receiver Mike Dudek would miss a second consecutive season as well.

[Visit Dr. Saturday on Facebook for stories you might have missed and chat with the writers]

Dudek caught 76 passes for 1,038 yards and six touchdowns in 2014.

For more Illinois news, visit OrangeandBlueNews.com.

- - - - - - -

Sam Cooper is a contributor for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!

Follow @SamDCooper