Redshirt sophomore tight end Keith Carter was injured in a
motorcycle accident Thursday evening. He suffered a dislocated hip
and has bone fragments in the hip in addition to lacerations on his
legs.
“We are thankful he is alive,” head coach Karl
Dorrell said.
Carter struck a vehicle during a lane change in traffic on the
405 freeway. The hip requires surgery and although Carter should
make a full recovery, it is unclear whether he will be able to play
this season.
“This impacts us heavily,” Dorrell said. “We
only had four tight ends to begin with.”
Carter was first on the depth chart going into spring ball, and
played in six games and made three catches last season as a back-up
for Mike Seidman. Sophomore Marcedes Lewis, senior Blane Kezirian,
redshirt freshman J.J. Hair and walk-on redshirt freshman Will
Peddie picked up the slack at practice on Friday.
“Me and Blane had a lot of reps today,” Lewis
chuckled.
He had Dorrell hollering at him and trying to refrain from using
his whistle at one point. A few plays later, Lewis had the stands
clapping as he made a one-handed catch while a defender tied up his
other hand.
“Marcedes is learning,” Dorrell said, “He
missed winter conditioning for basketball so he hasn’t had a
chance to learn the system.”
“I never got yelled at so many times in a row,”
Lewis said. “But it’s constructive criticism and I am
no stranger to hard work.”
The coaches’ work lies in filling the hole Carter has
left. They have not yet had time to consider moving anyone to the
position, but hope the players they have will rise to the
challenge.
“I’ve got to coach better, they’ve got to play
better, and they’ve got to get a lot more maturity in a
hurry,” tight ends coach Gary Bernardi said.
Bernardi spent Thursday night at the hospital, and his wife
spent the following day there. Carter, a Pennsylvania native, is
one of the few out-of-state players on the roster and his mother
was still waiting to get a flight to Los Angeles on Friday
evening.
“He’s hanging in there,” Bernardi said.
“He is a dedicated guy so it’s been hard for
him.”
Dorrell, who has emphasized bringing the family environment back
into the program, has had more than his share of fatherly duty of
late. He attended the memorial service of a recruit’s mother
earlier in the week before heading to visit Carter in the hospital
Friday.
“We pray every day for Keith,” Lewis said.
“This kind of thing makes you think, don’t take nothing
for granted.”