The Louisville football program might have escaped their season-opener vs. Ole Miss relatively healthy, but one skill position player will likely miss a but time.
In third quarter of Monday night's 43-24 loss to the Rebels, wide receiver Shai Werts suffered what appeared to be a left leg injury while blocking, and had to be helped off the field. In his weekly press conference, head coach Scott Satterfield confirmed that the grad transfer will not play in the upcoming home opener against Eastern Kentucky.
"Shai's got a lower body sprain, and he will not be available this week,' he said. "It remains to be seen how long he'll be out. I would anticipate a couple of weeks probably, and then we'll reevaluate where we are. He got rolled up pretty good in the game there."
Fortunately, Satterfield added that he was the only player that got dinged up against the Rebels. While Louisville did not offer an official injury report prior to the contest with Ole Miss, the only known injured player entering the game was defensive lineman Dayna Kinnaird (undisclosed).
The 5-foot-11, 205-pound wideout logged no stats prior to exiting the game, but is still very much in the mix with the main receiving corps. On the pregame depth chart, he was listed as the backup slot receiver behind Braden Smith
Werts came over from Georgia Southern during the offseason, and made the transition from dual threat quarterback to receiver. In 11 games during his final season with the Eagles, he completed 60.2% of his passes for eight touchdowns and 1,062 yards, while rushing for an additional 720 yards and 11 touchdowns.
In 46 career games with Georgia Southern, the Clinton, S.C. native completed 57.0% of his passes for 3,777 yards, 34 touchdowns and 12 interceptions; while also rushing for 3,083 yards and 34 touchdowns. He guided the Eagles to three bowls games, including two wins and being named the MVP of the 2018 Camellia Bowl.
Kickoff against Eastern Kentucky is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 11 at 7:00 p.m. EST.
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