Arizona has released its injury report heading into this Saturday's game against New Mexico in the New Mexico Bowl and if you have been reading the quick write ups after practice there aren't any surprises this week. The Wildcats have no players listed as probable, questionable or doubtful but there are a handful of players out for Saturday's bowl game and they are significant.
Here is a look at the list of players you will not see on the field in Albuquerque this weekend.
Nick Wilson: As I have been mentioning Wilson has been not doing much of anything in practice with the team. He has been suited out but not participating much. It comes back to the knee injury for Wilson and it is something that is just not healing at this point. Rich Rodriguez said earlier in the week that Wilson has been spending a lot of time with the trainers and gave a good indication that he would not go this weekend. Injuries have certainly been an issue already for Wilson through his first two seasons at Arizona and this one is pretty significant as well. That means expect a lot of Jared Baker this Saturday and maybe even some Tyrell Johnson out of the backfield with Orlando Bradford dinged up and Samajie Grant coming off a concussion.
I would not expect things to look much different than they did at the end of the year when the running backs weren't getting a ton of touches.
Luca Bruno: The defensive lineman really took a big step forward this season, but he was just one of the players to get injured in the Territorial Cup game as he injured his foot. That foot injury will keep him out Saturday and it will be interesting to see if it carries into spring ball at all. Bruno is still in a boot and that has obviously limited what he can do during practice. Jeff Worthy should get the in place of Bruno against New Mexico.
Freddie Tagaloa: The knee is still an issue for the big offensive lineman. Tagaloa injured his knee just before the season started and it forced him to move positions and go inside to guard, but the injury was still never fully 100 percent either. He then injured it again against Washington and has been out ever since. It will be interesting to see how Tagaloa looks in the spring after having the month to continue to try and heal. He has yet to be consistently effective, but he has also battled through that knee injury for the entire season.
Derrick Turituri: Lastly, and not unexpected, is the junior linebacker. Turituri is not Scooby Wright, but when it comes to Arizona's defense he is important as well. The Wildcats use Turituri in a variety of ways and when you have both him and Wright on the field it makes a world of difference. The Oregon native played in just four games this season and Arizona will look into a medical redshirt for him as he has missed all that time with his hip injury. He meets the criteria for a medical redshirt so it should be a simple process to get him the waiver and get him a year back. Turituri is at least starting to work his way back now and signs are looking good that he will be back and ready to go for next season. The spring will be an important time though.
Here is a look at the list of players you will not see on the field in Albuquerque this weekend.
Nick Wilson: As I have been mentioning Wilson has been not doing much of anything in practice with the team. He has been suited out but not participating much. It comes back to the knee injury for Wilson and it is something that is just not healing at this point. Rich Rodriguez said earlier in the week that Wilson has been spending a lot of time with the trainers and gave a good indication that he would not go this weekend. Injuries have certainly been an issue already for Wilson through his first two seasons at Arizona and this one is pretty significant as well. That means expect a lot of Jared Baker this Saturday and maybe even some Tyrell Johnson out of the backfield with Orlando Bradford dinged up and Samajie Grant coming off a concussion.
I would not expect things to look much different than they did at the end of the year when the running backs weren't getting a ton of touches.
Luca Bruno: The defensive lineman really took a big step forward this season, but he was just one of the players to get injured in the Territorial Cup game as he injured his foot. That foot injury will keep him out Saturday and it will be interesting to see if it carries into spring ball at all. Bruno is still in a boot and that has obviously limited what he can do during practice. Jeff Worthy should get the in place of Bruno against New Mexico.
Freddie Tagaloa: The knee is still an issue for the big offensive lineman. Tagaloa injured his knee just before the season started and it forced him to move positions and go inside to guard, but the injury was still never fully 100 percent either. He then injured it again against Washington and has been out ever since. It will be interesting to see how Tagaloa looks in the spring after having the month to continue to try and heal. He has yet to be consistently effective, but he has also battled through that knee injury for the entire season.
Derrick Turituri: Lastly, and not unexpected, is the junior linebacker. Turituri is not Scooby Wright, but when it comes to Arizona's defense he is important as well. The Wildcats use Turituri in a variety of ways and when you have both him and Wright on the field it makes a world of difference. The Oregon native played in just four games this season and Arizona will look into a medical redshirt for him as he has missed all that time with his hip injury. He meets the criteria for a medical redshirt so it should be a simple process to get him the waiver and get him a year back. Turituri is at least starting to work his way back now and signs are looking good that he will be back and ready to go for next season. The spring will be an important time though.
