Illinois linebacker sits out of practice during recovery

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Matt Sinclair, Illinois' starting middle linebacker, appeared at the football media day in uniform but with an extra accessory around his wrist: a plastic hospital admission bracelet.

It was a reminder of the illness that put Sinclair, 21, in the hospital with a 107.5-degee fever and the reason he won't be practicing with the team for a few days.

On Aug. 1, Sinclair developed a fever and began vomiting at his home in St. Louis, but he thought he just had the flu.

When his mother -- a registered nurse -- called the Illinois football staff to let them know he might have to miss the first day of camp on Aug. 5, they said she should take Matt to the hospital for IVs that would rehydrate him.

So last Saturday, Sinclair went to St. Joseph's Hospital in Kirkwood, Mo.

"By the time we got there, he was going downhill. Real quick," Carol Sinclair said.

"I was scared, and I'm a registered nurse. And not too much scares me," she said.

Sinclair's fever spiked to 105 degrees. Doctors got that under control and were going to admit him, but soon he was shaking again, with chills and muscle spasms -- and a 107.5-degree fever, according to his mother.

Hospital officials took Sinclair straight to the intensive care unit where they used an ice bed to bring his temperature down.

Sinclair was discharged on Tuesday, and on Friday he and his mother drove to Champaign for media day and tests with team doctors.

Doctors still aren't sure what caused Sinclair's fever. Results of blood tests won't be back for several weeks.

Doctors believe it could be a virus carried by ticks, but not Lyme disease, according to Carol Sinclair. Her son remembers picking ticks off his body during a visit to the family farm in St. James, Mo.

Sinclair will be withheld from practice until his slightly enlarged spleen returns to normal. He's also 11 pounds lighter after his ordeal, but is confident he'll be back on the field in a matter of days.

"It's not a big concern to me," he said. "I'll be fine."