Thursday Injury Report - South Alabama

South Alabama - Saturday, September 22nd

Notes

There is something I could say here about how fortunate State has been to not have an abundance of a certain something that this article ascertains to, but I'm not going to say it. I'm not going to jinx it. Nevertheless, that certain something seems to have a small list of players out for State's game this weekend with South Alabama. Here are the injury notes for this week:

• TE Brandon Hill is again listed as questionable for this weekend's game, still fighting with a nagging ankle injury. Hill was listed as doubtful for last weekend's Troy game, and did not end up participating in the game.

• TE Malcolm Johnson, who has been out so far this season with a pectoral injury, is also listed as doubtful for this weekend's game. For the first time since his injury occurred, Coach Mullen gave a tentative timetable to when we might see the Mackey Award candidate return:

Mullen says he hopes to have tight end Malcolm Johnson back for Kentucky. That's the first we've heard of a timetable for him.

— Bob Carskadon (@bobcarskadon) September 17, 2012

• That goes along the lines of what we suspected - hold Johnson out this weekend in a game that should be manageable, and give him an extra two weeks time to heal before bringing him back against Kentucky. That certainly makes the most sense, and it will be nice to have Malcolm back as a weapon for Tyler Russell when the dogs head up to Lexington.
• Mullen also listed RG Tobias Smith as "between questionable and probable" for Saturday. As we noted in some of our Troy post game coverage, Smith was noticeably absent from the field last Saturday, as Justin Malone got the start for him and we never saw Tobias take the field. Although we are unaware of his particular ailment, we certainly wish him a speedy recovery, especially with his noted history of having to battle through injuries. My guess: State will, like they are doing with Malcolm Johnson, hold Smith out this weekend and allow him the extra rest in the bye week before returning to action in two weekends against Kentucky.
• Unless I just completely missed it, there is still no word on DT P.J. Jones, and when his indefinite suspension may be lifted. The other two players who at the beginning of the season were suspended along with Jones, DB Jamerson Love and WR Ricco Sanders, have since returned, yet there has been no sign of P.J. yet this season. As always, we will watch pre-game Saturday to see if P.J. is off suspension, as that is generally when Dan likes to indicate such.

Summary - Injuries / Suspensions for the Troy Game

Doubtful

TE - Brandon Hill

TE - Malcolm Johnson

Questionable to Probable

RG - Tobias Smith

Suspended

DT - P.J. Jones

Out for Season

CB Xavier Grindle