Across the country, Fall Camp is now in full swing. It’s a time when coaches are looking to get ready for the season ahead while also avoiding injuries. Still, for Clark Lea and the Vanderbilt Commodores, the injuries are starting to stack up. As the Commodores continue to get ready for the season, Lea shared […]
Across the country, Fall Camp is now in full swing. It’s a time when coaches are looking to get ready for the season ahead while also avoiding injuries. Still, for Clark Lea and the Vanderbilt Commodores, the injuries are starting to stack up.
As the Commodores continue to get ready for the season, Lea shared an injury update on those injured players. He’d start with Martel Hight, a defensive back who has played in 24 games over the past two seasons and has three career interceptions. Unfortunately, he’s also been forced into concussion protocol.
“Martel is going through concussion protocol,” Clark Lea said. “I’m actually not aware exactly where that stands right now, but yesterday it was kind of an incident in practice where he ended up hitting his head on the ground, and we’re just gonna be super cautious with that. He’s fine otherwise, but we need to make sure we take our time. That was kind of ongoing this morning. So, I’m not aware of where that is.”
From there, veteran linebacker Miles Capers has been dealing with his own shoulder issue. However, Clark Lea doesn’t believe that it’s anything to be worried about long-term for Vanderbilt.
“Capers dealt with a little shoulder issue yesterday right at the end of practice,” Lea said. “He’s gonna be fine. He’s a guy that’s banked a lot of reps here, and we want to be cautious of that. That’s just a matter of some soreness calming down. He’ll be back at it.”
Then, sophomore tight end Brycen Coleman is dealing with an ankle sprain. Last season, he appeared in five games, including the bowl, and took a redshirt for the season. Now, the hope is that he can provide good depth on the offense.
“Brycen has got an ankle sprain,” Lea said. “So, he’s just working, recovering on that. That’s not a long-term deal. My expectation is certainly he’ll be back for the first game. He’s feeling better. Hopefully, we get a chance to get him back before that.”
Wide receiver Trent Hudson came to Vanderbilt as a transfer this offseason. He previously played for Mississippi State and New Mexico State. While at New Mexico State, he played alongside quarterback Diego Pavia. Now, however, he’s got a groin issue to work through.
“Trent is soft tissue. So, again, I think he’s feeling better,” Lea said. “But we’re gonna take our time with that. We want to make sure we don’t compromise that. It’s something that lingers through the season. I believe it’s a groin. So, he’s gonna take his time, but he’ll be back. He’s going to be okay.”
The final Vanderbilt player Clark Lea gave an update on was Chase Mitchell. An offensive lineman projected to start this season, he’s been down with an AC joint sprain. So, the Commodores are looking to manage that ahead of the regular season and get him healthy again.
“Chase has a little AC sprain,” Lea said. “Again, he’s able to do some at practice but not all at practice. We want to just manage that right now.”
Vanderbilt will have just a couple of weeks to get healthy for the 2025 season. The Commodores open play on August 30th against Charleston Southern. After that, Vanderbilt will begin SEC competition on September 13th with a road test against South Carolina.
“None of them [are] long-term. All of them a little different in terms of the return to play,” Lea said. “All of them I expect available for the first game and certainly to be back, practicing with us.”
Category: General Sports
