The football team has added another Tiger to the disabled list.
Senior linebacker E.J. Kuale injured his ankle in practice Monday, but Coach Les Miles did not speak about Kuale’s injury until last night.
“We were in a shells practice and a guy was blocking on another defender and fell off of his block onto E.J.,” Miles said. “He was just in the wrong spot at the wrong time. It was a non- contact drill really. It is very unfortunate.”
Miles did not say whether the ankle was broken, but reaffirmed that Kuale would not be available for the team’s opener against North Texas on Sept. 3.
Fortunately for the team, Kuale will only be out for 4-6 weeks, unlike fellow teammate Alley Broussard, who was ruled out for the season after injuring his knee in an Aug. 13 practice. Kuale is the third player LSU has lost for the start of the season. In addition to Kuale and Broussard going down with injuries, sophomore Amp Hill abruptly quit the team last week.
Kuale, a Daytona Beach, Fla., native who joined the squad last season as a junior, was projected to start at the weakside linebacker position.
He began his collegiate career at Georgia Tech University before transferring to Dodge City Community College in Kansas his sophomore year.
After transferring to LSU for his junior season, Kuale saw action in 11 games, including two starts. He recorded 22 tackles — nine solo tackles, 13 assisted.
Among his 22 tackles, four were for loss of yardage, which combined for 20 yards. Kuale also added two sacks early in the 2004 season against Arizona State University.
With the weak side linebacker position open, Miles said other players will have more opportunities to find a starting position for the season opener.
“I think [Jason] Spadoni will be a guy who will play a little more football,” Miles said. “He is pretty instinctive at backer. He’s very athletic, obviously. We knew he was big enough and strong enough, but didn’t see [him at linebacker] until he got in there. Ali Highsmith and Kenny Hollis — obviously those three guys have moved around on those two outside spots. Luke Sanders is another guy who will play some and Cameron Vaughn in the middle. I think we will keep Luke where he is at. I think we will be fine. We would like to keep Ali [Highsmith] and Jason Spadoni” in the mix.”
Tuesday night was the last scrimmage of fall camp, which went without injury, Miles said.
Contact Tabby Soignier at [email protected]