Injuries hit Rebels before camp starts

Steve Guiremand

Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2003 | 9:56 a.m.

According to trainer Kyle Wilson, UNLV made it through its first fall practice on Tuesday night without any major injuries.

That's the good news.

The bad news is that the Rebels secondary lost three key players to injuries before the start of fall camp, including potential starting cornerback Jason Rogers of Bishop Gorman High School.

Rogers had surgery in June for a torn ACL and is out for the year. His injury leaves an already thin Rebels cornerback corps even thinner.

"It's big," defensive coordinator Mike Bradeson said. "He was a kid we were counting on at that corner spot to make an impact. Obviously, he's not going to play this season, so we have to go another direction and get somebody ready."

How Rogers was injured isn't quite clear. Rebels head coach John Robinson said he thought he injured the knee in spring practice but Bradeson thought the injury occurred afterward during conditioning drills.

Sophomore David Olsen, senior Daniel Jones and freshman Ernest Gordon are expected to vie for the starting corner spot. Junior Ruschard Dodd-Masters, who started six games in 2002 and had two interceptions, will start at the other corner position.

Senior Mike Clancey, who played corner last season but was moved to safety in the spring, is also out for at least the first half of the season after undergoing off-season wrist surgery to repair torn ligaments.

Senior Sean Mackey, like Clancey listed as a backup to reigning Mountain West Conference defensive player of the year Jamaal Brimmer, is also sidelined with a broken forearm that required pins and a steel plate to be inserted. Mackey is expected to return in a couple of weeks.