Nebraska safety DeShon Singleton back from injury

It tested him both mentally and physically.

“I just learned patience,” Singleton said Tuesday. “There’s a lot of things you can’t control.”

Singleton — a senior who’s gone from Greensburg, Louisiana, to the middle of Kansas to eastern Nebraska — was a key part of the Huskers’ secondary through the early part of 2023.

Then, two plays into a Week 5 matchup with Michigan, he sustained a knee injury that sidelined him for the rest of the season.

“When things happen to you like that, you’re asking, ‘Why does this gotta happen to me?’” said Singleton, who leaned on his faith through his recovery. “I just had to trust in God at that point and let everything else handle itself.”

Singleton impressed through the first four games of last season. He flourished in a new system brought in by a new coaching staff, including head coach Matt Rhule and defensive coordinator Tony White.

A season-opening loss at Minnesota was Singleton’s first start at NU, his career-high seven tackles coming that day. A tackle for loss came against Colorado a week later, and he made the rounds on social media a couple weeks after that with a jarring hit against Louisiana Tech.

Singleton was having the breakout season he always wanted — the one he didn’t have while playing special teams and limited defensive snaps for the Huskers in 2022.

Everything changed in the Michigan game in late September.

“When it happened, Rhule texted me and was like ‘You gotta embrace the delay,’” Singleton said. “I just had to follow that right there.”

At the following Monday’s availability, Rhule said he expected Singleton to be out for an extended period. But Nebraska expected to have Singleton back at some point in the season, Rhule said.

It, of course, didn’t work out that way.

There were a couple of setbacks while working to get back on the field, Singleton said Tuesday. For instance, he tried to return earlier than expected but re-tweaked his knee in the process.

There was a mental side of recovery, too. It was hard finally having everything and having it ripped away so soon. For that, he leaned on other injured Huskers in a group they called OTM — short for “Out The Mud,” Singleton said.

Singleton also turned to his time at Hutchinson Community College, where he shined in his first year of college football before transferring to NU. He went through something similar after uprooting his life and going from an hour away from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to an hour away from Wichita, Kansas.

“I was going into something that I didn’t know nothing about,” Singleton said, drawing parallels between that experience and this one.

“When you’re looking into the dark tunnel, you don’t know what’s on the other side. Now you just gotta persevere and be persistent in everything you’re doing and just go headfirst into it. And that’s what I really did with my rehab.”

Singleton was officially cleared July 1.

“They told me I was free,” he said, “and I had chills go down my body.”

He’s back in full swing now, giving the Huskers another piece to a defense that will enter 2024 with lofty goals. Defensive line coach Terrence Knighton said Tuesday that NU is on a mission to have the best defense in the country.

And if the first four games of last year were any sign, Singleton will be integral in that.

Singleton feels great, he said, after the first full week of training camp. He thinks he’s more knowledgeable now, too. And stronger. And faster. To be honest, he said, Singleton doesn’t think he took a step back.

The other defensive backs don’t think so, either. At least not Malcolm Hartzog Jr.

“I feel like he’s gonna be a big guy for us,” Hartzog Jr. said. “Having him back, that was a big key, what we needed. He’s big, fast, can make plays on the ball.”

Singleton will play this season not knowing if it will be his last in Lincoln.

Last year counted against his eligibility since he played in five games, breaking the four-game limit to redshirt even though the fifth was for only two snaps. Rhule previously said he and his staff were petitioning to help Singleton get back the year of eligibility.

As of Tuesday, that process was still ongoing.

But even if this isn’t his final season, Singleton will play like it is. He knows how quickly it can all be taken away.

“You can’t take things for granted. You never know what’s going to happen the next play,” Singleton said. “Just don’t take nothing for granted, for real.”