Louisville Football: Injury Report vs. Alabama

We are three days out from the Louisville football opener with defending champ Alabama. Let’s take a look at injuries for both teams, who will play, and how it impacts the game.

Louisville football is ready to roll into its season opener with the Tide as healthy as possible.

In the week leading up to the first game, the Cards are going to look for intensity, but hope for as few injuries as possible. We have seen in recent history that playing Alabama to start the season is not only an almost-certain loss, but a good way to lose a lot of players to injury.

Last season, Florida State- Bama’s opening opponent- suffered some injuries to important players, including their starting quarterback Deondre Francois. The Seminoles crumbled the rest of the way. They fell from No. 3 in the country to barely making a bowl game.

Don’t necessarily expect Louisville’s season to be over after the Alabama game, but staying injury-free would be a huge positive leaving this game.

So, without further ado, let’s take a look at Louisville and Alabama’s up-to-date injury reports.

Note: College teams are not required to provide any sort of injury report, so this is going off of what we know based off practices and what coaches Bobby Petrino and Nick Saban are willing to relinquish.

Alabama

Terrell Lewis, Outside Linebacker- Out. A huge contributor to the defense, and likely first round draft pick, Lewis is expected to miss most of the season after tearing his ACL this summer.

Matt Womack, Offensive Line- Out. Womack was likely a starter or key presence on the Alabama offensive line. He suffered a foot injury that required surgery a few weeks ago. The Tide are still loaded with talent up front, but this is probably their biggest loss on offense.

Najee Harris, Running back- Probable. Harris is the name most Louisville fans will recognize. The running back expected to be a change of pace back from Damien Harris has been injured, but is working his way back into practice. He should be good to go against the Cards.

Stephon Wynn, Defensive Line- Out. Wynn is likely to miss a few weeks of game time with some sort of ligament injury that was unspecified by Saban. The Tide are not short of defensive ends, but Wynn was a highly regarded freshman out of high school who is still likely to see some time this year.

Daniel Wright, Defensive Back- Probable. Wright suffered a shoulder injury last week, but appears to be practicing. Wright will add depth to a massive Bama defensive front.

Chris Allen, Linebacker- Out. Another big loss for the tide at linebacker, where they are getting thin (for Alabama standards).

Louisville

Tobias Little, Fullback- Out. Little was generating a lot of excitement in the spring and going into fall camp. He would have been Louisville’s primary lead blocker, and is impressive toting the rock. Look for him to miss the season with a serious knee injury.

Jaylen Smith, Wide Receiver- Will play. People held their breath when news broke of Smith’s emergency appendectomy the first week of August. However, Smith recovered quickly, and is already back in game shape. This is huge news for the Cards.

Tresean Smith, Safety- Will play. Smith lost his starting spot from a year ago to the more than worthy Kane Pass. Smith needed knee surgery after a serious injury against Mississippi State to end last season. That said, he is almost back to 100% and will certainly see time on Saturday.

The Cards are about as healthy as they will be all season. They are going to need it going into a battle with the current kings of college football.