USC Trojans star wide receiver Marqise Lee suffered a left knee injury during yesterday’s 62-41 loss to the Arizona State Sun Devils, as he went down on a punt return near the sideline early in the fourth quarter. Lee was carted off of the field after trainers examined his knee, and it looks like Lee suffered a serious injury at first glance; he left the locker room on crutches.
Lane Kiffin gave this glib answer as an update after the game, “Obviously it didn’t look very good. It didn’t sound very good or look very good, so that’s all I got for you.”
Before the injury, Marqise Lee caught seven passes for 92 yards to run his season total of receiving yards to 385, and a significant injury to Lee would be a crushing blow for this USC offense. They would be in serious depth trouble at wide receiver, in addition to losing a superstar player who is one of the best wideouts in the country.
The good news is that Lee’s tests in Los Angeles went well, as Scout.com’s Lindsey Thiry reports that tight end Xavier Grimble stated Lee’s tests were “positive” and that Marqise Lee will likely be “okay”. That’s good news for USC fans, and it sounds like Lee avoided a severe knee injury that could have cost him the season and a little bit of draft stock in a worst-case scenario. Hopefully Lee won’t even miss a game, and we’ll learn more about his injury later on today.
During the game, Lee became USC’s all-time leader in receiving yards with 3,238, as he passed USC legend and former NFL receiver Johnnie Morton’s total of 3,201. Lee isn’t out of the woods yet, though, because there are still worries that this injury will cause Lee to not play another college snap. At this point, we can only hope for the best, but the report from Thiry is an encouraging sign.