USC football injury report: Jordan Iosefa out with dislocated kneecap (8/6)

Jordan Iosefa’s knee injury was not an ACL tear, but a dislocated kneecap which will sideline him for four to six weeks. Plus more from USC football’s injury report.

USC football waited on pins and needles to hear the prognosis for senior linebacker Jordan Iosefa, who injured his knee during Monday’s practice. Fortunately for Iosefa and the Trojans, the injury was not as severe as was feared.

Iosefa did not tear his ACL, but did dislocate his patella, or kneecap, with cartilage damage in two areas, head coach Clay Helton revealed on Tuesday.

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“The good Lord was watching after us and one of the worries of our team,” Helton said. “I’m very, very happy for him, being a senior.”

Iosefa underwent surgery to repair the damage on Tuesday morning and is expected to miss four to six weeks, which is a far shorter timetable than the months he would have missed with an ACL injury.

With Iosefa out, second team middle linebacker reps behind John Houston have been picked up by true freshman Ralen Goforth.

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The Trojan running back corps was running low on Tuesday thanks to the absence of Vavae Malepeai and Stephen Carr. Carr and several others, possibly including Marlon Tuipulotu and Austin Jackson, missed out while taking finals for their summer classes, which end this week.

Malepeai tweaked his knee on Saturday, but fortunately his MRI results came back negative. He is expected to sit out a week.

Wide receiver John Jackson III suffered a minor hamstring injury on Day 2 of camp and continued to work on the sideline with trainers, along with tight end Ethan Rae and wide receiver Kyle Ford, who are rehabbing high school knee injuries.

Freshman linebacker Maninoa Tufono has not practiced this week, though the nature of his injury has not been disclosed.

As for freshman wide receiver Bru McCoy, he remains sidelined by a fever which is currently being treated with antibiotics.

USC football injury report

• OUT:
  • DL Jacob Lichtenstein (leg)
  • LB Jordan Iosefa (knee) [4-6 weeks]
  • LB Maninoa Tufono (undisclosed)
  • LB Solomon Tuliaupupu (foot)
  • RB Vavae Malepeai (knee) [1 week]
  • TE Ethan Rae (knee)
  • WR Kyle Ford (knee)
  • WR John Jackson III (hamstring) [1 week]
  • WR Bru McCoy (illness)
• LIMITED:
  • LT Austin Jackson (back)