Notre Dame HC Brian Kelly announced that LB Jaylon Smith suffered “significant knee injury” during the first quarter of Friday’s Fiesta Bowl, per Doug Lesmerises.
All indications were that this was a major injury for Smith, who’s largely considered to be one of the best prospects in the 2016 draft class.
- Former NFL physician David Chao mentions that the concern for Smith based on the video available online is that he sustained a knee ligament tear/sprain with possible PCL and PLC injury with no ACL damage.
- According to Chao, this is a much worse injury than just an ACL tear.
- Chao adds that this will likely almost certainly lead to Smith falling down draft boards in the coming months.
For what it’s worth, Mel Kiper of ESPN had Smith listed as the No. 2 overall player in his most recent Big Board.
Entering today’s game, Smith had recorded 283 tackles, 23.5 tackles for a loss, 4.5 sacks, three forced fumbles, three recoveries and 10 pass defenses for the Fighting Irish over the course of three years.
Here’s hoping that Smith gets at least some good news regarding his knee injury.
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