Scooby Wright out a month following surgery
Sep 7, 2015, 5:22 PM | Updated: 5:22 pm
Arizona linebacker Scooby Wright III before an NCAA college football game against UTSA, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2015, in Tucson, Ariz. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
(AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
Arizona Wildcats linebacker Scooby Wright will miss up to a month after undergoing surgery to repair torn cartilage in his left knee.
Wright suffered a lateral meniscus tear during Thursday’s 42-32 win over UTSA and had surgery on Saturday. Arizona coach Rich Rodriguez said Monday that he expects him to miss four weeks.
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“Scooby’s thing, fortunately, is something that he got fixed and actually I think he’s going to come back even stronger than he was before,” Rodriguez said. “And knowing Scooby, he will be chomping at the bit, but we will make sure, and trainers will make sure, that when he is coming back, he’s coming back 100 percent ready to go.” |
Wright is expected to miss the next four Wildcats’ games with non conference opponents Nevada and Northern Arizona and PAC-12 opponents UCLA and Stanford. He is expected to return Oct. 10 when the Wildcats host Oregon State.
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With Wright out, Arizona will turn to senior Haden Gregory, who walked on from junior college before the 2013 season. “He’s a big kid and he’s pretty athletic,” Rodriguez said. “It’s hard to compare a guy to Scooby because Scooby is one of the best defensive players in the country, but I thought Haden came in and made some plays, was pretty active. It was his first extended action there, so I think he will get better from that, and he’s going to have to.” |
Wright hurt his knee on a non-contact play and attempted to return to the field after being examined by trainers but ultimately pulled himself out of the game.
The junior won the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, the Rotary Lombardi Award and the Chuck Bednarik Award in 2014. He totaled 163 tackles, 29 tackles for loss, 14 sacks and six forced fumbles.
The Associated Press contributed to this story
