DE Brett Johnson To Miss 2022 Season Due To Injury

BERKELEY – Cal's Travers Family Head Football Coach announced Saturday that Brett Johnson will miss the 2022 season due to a lower-body injury sustained during a team practice on Thursday. The injury is unrelated to the broken hip that Johnson had surgically repaired after an automobile accident in March of 2021 that caused him to miss all of the 2021 campaign.

"Brett is one of the toughest and most dedicated football players I have ever been around," Wilcox said. "Although this is a difficult situation for him, I am confident that he will return to the field in 2023. He has the unwavering support of all his coaches, teammates and everyone in our football program. It is important for us to rally around each other as a team and respond positively to this adversity."

Below are notes on Johnson with an extended bio available by clicking on his name.
 
Brett Johnson, DL, 6-5, 300, R-Jr., 4th Season At Cal (Phoenix, AZ/Desert Vista HS)
— A 2022 preseason All-Pac-12 second-team selection of the Pac-12 Coaches and Phil Steele, while he was a third-team pick by Athlon
— On the cover of Athlon's 2022 college football preview magazine
— Has played in 17 career games with 13 starts since arriving at Cal as a true freshman in 2019 and posted totals of 46 tackles, 6.0 tackles for loss (-26 yards), 3.0 sacks (-19 yards), one pass breakup, one pass defended and one fumble recovery
— Played in all 17 games possible during his first two seasons at Cal as a 2019 true freshman and 2020 sophomore before missing the 2021 campaign due to injuries suffered in an automobile accident in March of 2021
— Returned to the field in 2022 for spring practices and fall camp before suffering a season-ending lower-body injury on August 25
— A preseason All-Pac-12 second-team selection of Pro Football Focus as a 2021 junior and third-team pick by Athlon as a 2020 sophomore
— Earned third-team Freshman All-American and third-team All-Pac-12 honors from Pro Football Focus as a 2019 freshman when he played in a career-high all 13 games with nine starts including seven of the last eight contests and recorded career highs of 26 tackles and 3.5 tackles for loss (-18 yards), while adding a career-high-tying 1.5 sacks (career-high -12 yards) and his lone career fumble recovery
— Started all four games in a season shortened by COVID-19 as a 2020 sophomore and was tied for third on the team as well as first among defensive linemen with 20 tackles, while adding 2.5 tackles for loss (-8 yards), a career-high-tying 1.5 sacks (-7 yards), one pass breakup and one pass defended