Oregon St. WR/KR James Rodgers was still on crutches Sunday, with a knee brace in place, and is definitely out for the Washington game this week. But his status after that is still uncertain, until doctors make a further assessment Monday. Rodgers' MRI on his left knee was delayed due to an equipment malfunction.
"I have not heard that (ACL) from anyone,'' Oregon St. coach Mike Riley said.
Riley was referring to worst-case scenarios involving Rodgers' knee, which twisted sideways after catching on the turf as Arizona safety Adam Hall rode Rodgers down, trying to break up an apparent touchdown reception.
"I'm not going to be optimistic or pessimistic about what we find out in the next 24 hours," Riley commented. "We'll know probably sometime tomorrow. The doctors will take a look at it in the morning.''
"There's no (good) way to spin it,'' Riley added. Rodgers was in good spirits Sunday at the Valley Center. "Considering the situation, he seemed absolutely fine,'' said Riley. "He probably took it better than I did.''
Riley discussed going forward without James Rodgers, if even on a temporary basis.
"Not having him at practice, or getting ready for a game is always hard. It was hard the week he had the concussion. He's missed very little time while he's been at OSU. And it seems very strange when he's not out there. If we go a long stretch of time without him playing, it will seem weird. ... but lots of his habits have rubbed off. He will impact this team forever throughout the year even if he doesn't play again.''
In other injury news, Riley noted that the cut center Alex Linnenkohl suffered won't slow him down, but a sprained ankle might. Riley is hoping Linnenkohl will be better by Tuesday's practice, after two days off the tweaked ankle.
Andy_Wooldridge@yahoo.com