Auburn starting DT Dontavius Russell suffers dislocated thumb in car accident

Russell passed up on the NFL to return to Auburn to play his senior season in 2018

By Barrett Sallee

Mar 15, 2018 at 10:54 am ET • 1 min read

Dontavius Russell, one of the most reliable players on Auburn's defense over the last three seasons, posted on Instagram Wednesday pictures of a horrific car accident he was in last weekend that resulted in the rising senior suffering a dislocated thumb.

Russell has started every game in each of the last two seasons and played a big role along the Tigers defensive line in 2015 as a freshman. He announced in December that he would return to the defending SEC West champs in 2018 instead of leaving early to the NFL Draft.

The photo of the mangled truck coupled with the caption Russell posted on Instagram are horrific.

I watched as my brother had to learn to walk again from a wreck like this and I walked away with only a dislocated thumb #godisgood

A post shared by Dontavius Russell (@druss55) on Mar 13, 2018 at 6:30pm PDT

A 6-foot-3, 310-pounder from Carrollton, Georgia, Russell notched 46 tackles, 6.5 for loss and three sacks for the Tigers last season as a junior.

His return -- coupled with the presence of Marlon Davidson, Derrick Brown, Nick Coe and another year under coordinator Kevin Steele -- makes Auburn's defensive line one of the most formidable in the country heading into the 2018 season.

The Tigers kicked off spring practice on March 1, but are off this week while the school is on spring break. Coach Gus Malzahn's crew will return to the practice field on March 20. Russell's status for the remainder of spring practice is unclear.

The annual A-Day spring game is scheduled on April 7 at 4 p.m. ET, and they'll kick off the 2018 regular season on Sept. 1 against Washington in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game in Atlanta.