Jay Norvell said Monday during his weekly news conference that he wished for the timely return of injured CU Buffs star Travis Hunter, who was hospitalized after a hit by CSU Rams safety Henry Blackburn.

“I hope everybody’s healthy; I hope that Travis gets healthy and gets back out there,” Norvell said at Canvas Stadium in advance of 0-2 CSU’s visit to Middle Tennessee this weekend. “We certainly don’t want to see anybody get hurt.”

Hunter was removed from the game and later taken to a hospital after taking a hit near the home sidelines at Folsom Field from Blackburn late in the first quarter, contact that reportedly led to a lacerated liver. Norvell described it as a “bang-bang” play and said that Blackburn and a family of a player received death threats during (and since) Saturday night’s Rocky Mountain Showdown, which the Rams lost in double overtime, 43-35.

“Our university is supporting him, the police department is supporting him, because of the seriousness of the threats that have come out of this,” Norvell said. “It’s just sad. It’s sad that that’s the state of the world we live in. I mean, it’s a football game, let’s not make it more than that. We don’t want anybody to get hurt. We don’t coach that kind of football.”

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