Vanderbilt Football Initial Injury Report: What is the Status of Jared Curtis? – Sports Illustrated

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Vanderbilt plays its SEC home opener this weekend in what will be another tough matchup for the Commodores. Vanderbilt takes on No. 9 Ole Miss in search of its first conference win of the season.
But before the games kickoff this weekend, the initial injury report for all the SEC games this weekend dropped Wednesday night. The biggest question leading up to the injury report was the status of Vanderbilt five-star freshman quarterback Jared Curtis.
Last week Curtis was questionable on the Wednesday player availability report before he eventually missed the game against Georgia. This week, Curtis is listed as probable for this weekend’s game against the Rebels. Curtis is recovering from a knee bruise injury that he sustained during one of the plays in Vanderbilt’s trip to Auburn Sept. 26.
In his weekly Tuesday press conference, Vanderbilt head coach Clark Lea hinted that Curtis would show up on tonight’s injury report, but he also expressed hope on Curtis’ trajectory of recovery.
“He was able to practice today and from my vantage point, was able to do that without much limitation. He’ll still be a part of our injury report as we move through the week, but I’m encouraged by his progress,” Lea said Tuesday. “Just like anything, it’s one thing to go into practice to be able to participate. It’s another thing to then see how your body recovers and how you feel the next day.”
Elsewhere on the Vanderbilt injury report, the Commodores will be without defensive lineman Aaron Bryant due to his season-ending ACL injury he suffered before Vanderbilt’s game against NC State a few weeks ago. Vanderbilt will also be without cornerback Jaylin Lackey and linebacker Jamison Curtis, who are continuing to deal with soft tissue injuries.
Additionally, Vanderbilt will be without wide receiver Kahden Smith, who also missed last week's game against Georgia. Offensive lineman Mitchell Smith is listed as doubtful for the game against Ole Miss.
Vanderbilt-Ole Miss initial injury report. Jared Curtis is listed as probable. pic.twitter.com/FjYJySomfg
While it is not ideal the amount of people Vanderbilt will be missing, it is certainly a sigh of relief to see Curtis listed as probable. Lea seemed optimisitic Tuesday about Curtis' availbility and Wednesday's designation shows that Curtis has continued to make progress ahead of the weekend.
Vanderbilt kicks off against Ole Miss at 2:30 p.m. CT on ESPN. The Commodores are looking to stop a two-game skid and get their first SEC win of the season.
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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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