"Fwiw he played in their exhibition game this week, lets see what it means for his eligibility."
A student-athlete redshirts when they do not participate in any intercollegiate competition during a given academic year. The main reason for purposely redshirting a student-athlete is to preserve a year of their eligibility. The moment a student-athlete competes for a single second of time or a single play, they will use up one of their four years of eligibility. “Intercollegiate competition” includes any contests against outside competition, regardless of how the competition is classified (e.g., scrimmages, exhibitions, etc.). (NCAA Bylaw 14.02.6)
There is an exception - During a student-athlete’s initial year of enrollment, they may compete in preseason exhibition contests and preseason practice scrimmages without counting such competition as a season of competition. (Bylaw 14.2.3.1.3) This would applies to the sports of Field Hockey, Soccer and Basketball.