Good news is that defensive end Dan Pettinato isn’t on the injury list. Photo by Chris Morrison-USA TODAY Sports
The Arizona Wildcats stayed reasonably healthy in fall camp, in part because coach Rich Rodriguez put his team through less live hitting than he has ever done.
The result is an injury report for the season-opener against NAU that doesn’t list anybody as probable, questionable or doubtful.
Four players are listed as out:
–Backup offensive lineman Beau Boyster (knee) is out for the season.
–Backup linebacker Cody Ippolito (knee) is out for the season.
–Wide receiver David Richards (foot). Based on what Rodriguez has hinted at, Richards might miss a couple of games, perhaps the non-conference season. He is the team’s leading returning wideout, having caught 29 passes last season.
–Wide receiver Austin Hill (knee). He is rehabbing an ACL injury from spring. Best-case scenario is that he is able to return at some point late the season.
Interesting that defensive end Dan Pettinato is not on the list at all. He has been recovering from a spring knee injury, and while Rodriguez said recently that Pettinato was ahead of schedule, he was not expected to be available for the opener. We’ll see.
Pettinato, if healthy, will help in the three-man front at end or tackle. He had a combined nine starts last season between those spots, making 34 tackles.