Linebacker Kelly suffers knee injury, per report
NORMAN — Caleb Kelly's OU career might be over.
The Sooners l i nebacker, who came back from a serious knee injury a year ago to play in four games, reportedly suffered a knee injury recently in practice and is presumed to have a torn anterior cruciate ligament, SoonerScoop.com reported.
The site also reported that quarterback Tanner Mordecai, who is in a competition with
Spencer Rattler for the starting spot, had suffered an injury that would keep him out of practice as well. Mordecai's injury is not serious enough to require surgery according to the site.
Kelly was injured in spring practice in 2019, keeping him out until late November.
He showed promise during those four games and was expected to play a significant role in 2020.
“I think he's playing fast,” defensive coordinator Alex
Gr inch said late last season. “You see some physicalness in practice. That's obviously going to translate to the game.”
With Kelly injured, Brian Asamoah figures to be the most likely replacement at weakside linebacker. Asamoah played in 13 games as a redshirt freshman a year ago, t hough his usage dipped late in the season. He had 23 tackles and a pair of sacks.
Kelly made a quick impact as a freshman in 2016, playing 11 games and starting the final six.
But the former fivestar prospect struggled to find a consistent spot and was beaten out by
Curtis Bolton before the 2018 season to start at weakside linebacker, though he shifted positions near the end of the season and started five games at the strongside spot.
Kelly has played in 41 games with 160 tackles and five sacks in four seasons.
Though Rattler is widely expected to win the starting quarterback job, losing Mordecai for any length of time could be costly.
Former walk-on Tanner Schafer has played just a handful of snaps during his time with the Sooners, with none coming with t he game on the line.
Chandler Morris and Cade Horton are both fresh men who were expected to redshirt this season.