FORT WORTH, Texas - The TCU Horned Frogs returned to campus Sunday for the beginning of their fall workload with no change in the situation with Devonte Fields.
Fields, the preseason Big 12 defensive player of the year, was separated from the school after his name surfaced in a police investigation following an alleged assault. Fields was arrested and charged with misdemeanor assault. Fields denied the assault charges according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
The Frogs had physicals and team meetings Sunday and will practice Monday for the first time. Fields won't be there.
"Right now I don't have any more information on it," TCU head coach Gary Patterson said Sunday. "We'll have to decide and go forward as a university. We'll do what we need to do as a football team."
Patterson said he couldn't see definitely whether or not Fields would play for TCU again.
The off-the-field struggles for Fields comes less than two years after quarterback Casey Pachall left the school for treatment for alcohol. Patterson said those incidents don't mean the TCU program has widespread off-the-field issues.
"I've been dealing with them for 17 years," Patterson said. "We went through five years where we didn't even have a rap sheet on the football team. They all go in cycles. Kids are good kids. Kids make mistakes. Everybody should have 130 kids at home and see how you manage it and how you tell them they're not going out at night and how they've got to clean their room. Everybody should be in charge of 125 college guys for two weeks, let alone 365 days."
