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Temple’s injured list continues to grow, including quarterback Anthony Russo

Three games into their late-starting season, the Owls have seen several starters go down with injuries.

Temple quarterback Anthony Russo is sacked by the Memphis defense.
Temple quarterback Anthony Russo is sacked by the Memphis defense.Read moreMark Weber / AP

After three games, the injuries are beginning to accumulate for Temple’s football team.

During his Monday Zoom conference, coach Rod Carey had an update on several players following Saturday’s 41-29 loss at Memphis that dropped the Owls' record to 1-2, both overall and in the American Athletic Conference. Temple visits Tulane (2-4, 0-4) Saturday at noon.

Quarterback Anthony Russo, who was bothered by a thumb injury that didn’t keep him out of the lineup last week, was scheduled for a shoulder MRI on Monday.

“He’s tough, he didn’t want to tell me a thing during the game,” Carey said of Russo, who attempted 63 passes in the loss. “His shoulder got banged up a little bit, his throwing shoulder, so we will have more information on him later this afternoon or first thing in the morning.”

Redshirt sophomore tight end David Martin-Robinson missed the game while in COVID-19 protocol. Carey said Martin-Robinson was out due to contact tracing.

“He will be out for a few weeks, and hopefully he doesn’t get it,” Carey said.

Carey also said backup tight end Darius Pittman won’t be available this week. Pittman, a transfer from Purdue, is out with an ankle injury.

Starting linebackers Yvandy Rigby and Isaiah Graham-Mobley missed the Memphis game with injuries, as did starting guard Adam Klein. Graham-Mobley twisted an ankle in warmups before the South Florida game and played sparingly in the Owls' 39-37 win. Rigby and Klein have undisclosed injuries.

“We are hopeful for Yvandy this week,” Carey said. “We are pessimistically optimistic, if that makes sense, for Klein.”

Carey said Graham-Mobley is probably going to need a few more weeks before he is healthy.

Linebacker Audley Isaacs, who started in place of Rigby and had a team-high eight tackles, will be getting a knee MRI. Running back Re’Mahn Davis, who left the game briefly after banging his knee before returning, is fine, Carey said. Davis rushed for 113 yards on 20 carries against Memphis.

Temple receiver Jadan Blue’s availability was in question before Saturday’s game due to injury, but nobody could tell by his performance. He had 13 receptions for 115 yards and three touchdowns. Carey said Blue remains less than 100%.

“Jadan is a little banged up,” the coach said. “He’s fighting through it and doing a good job of doing that.”

New placekicker

Before last week’s game, Carey replaced redshirt junior Will Mobley on kickoffs with freshman Rory Bell. Mobley kept his job as Temple’s field goal and extra-point kicker, but now Bell is replacing him there as well. Mobley had a PAT blocked and also missed a 26-yard field goal attempt against Memphis.

“It doesn’t all fall on Will’s shoulders and I let him know that, but it is a production-based issue,” Carey said. "We’ll put Rory in there and see if we can get better production.

Mobley, who was successful on 22-of-29 field goal attempts in his first two seasons, is 4 for 6 this year.