Clark Lea Gives Injury Updates on Jared Curtis, Other Key Vanderbilt Football Players – si.com

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NASHVILLE — Vanderbilt football head coach Clark Lea had his second weekly press conference early Thursday afternoon and gave injury updates on those that showed up on Wednesday night's SEC player availbility report.
The most surprising player listed on Vanderbilt's initial injury report was the Commodores' five-star freshman quarterback Jared Curtis. Curtis was listed as "questionable" Wednesday night and Lea gave reporters the update on Curtis as Vanderbilt's matchup in Athens sits 48 hours away.
"He's banged up. He's not been able to be full-go in practice. So I think this has been about the injury report is there for a reason and we want to honor that. Questionable is the right marking for him right now. I'm hopeful. I think every day he's felt a little better and he's done a little more in practice," Lea said. "Certainly not ruling him out."
While not specific about the exact issue Curtis is dealing with, Lea said that the issue arose during the Auburn game after he got banged up on one of the plays in the game. He did note that it is not a longterm situation, however, it is something that is "challenging."
Lea knows that Curtis wants to play in the game against Georgia and it seems as though things are progressing positively in practice this week.
Vanderbilt backup quarterback Blaze Berlowitz has been preparing for quarterback reps in practice in the case that Curtis is not available to play Saturday.
The Commodores also had a few other key players that were on the injury report Wednesday as well. Vanderbilt EDGE Miles Capers, center Lyndon Cooper and offensive tackle Clinton Azubuike were all listed as "probable" for Saturday.
Lea told the media that Capers has been dealing with a neck issue, but feels good about where Capers is at right now. He also said that Cooper has been practicing throughout this week as well.
Despite what the injury report may look like right now, Lea is still confident with where his players are at and their ability to perform on this field this weekend.
"In any season you're going to have to manage some of those bumps and bruises. For Jared, it's the same. We're not going to put him out there unless he can support the mission and the mission's winning. We're going to have to deal with bumps and bruises throughout the entirety of the season. I'm actually really pleased with where we are at right now with respect to health of our roster," Lea said.
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Graham Baakko is a writer for Vanderbilt Commodores On SI, primarily covering football, basketball and baseball. Graham is a recent graduate from the University of Alabama, where he wrote for The Crimson White, WVUA-FM, WVUA 23 as he covered a variety of Crimson Tide sports. He also covered South Carolina athletics as a sportswriting intern for GamecockCentral.
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