Louisville safety MJ Griffin will 'probably' miss 2023 season with leg injury

Bad news for the Louisville Cardinals on Saturday as news broke that starting safety MJ Griffin will likely miss the entire 2023 football season due to a lower leg injury he suffered during practice.

The Courier-Journal reported Saturday afternoon that head coach Jeff Brohm said Griffin was probably done for the season, writing:

“Louisville safety MJ Griffin will ‘probably’ be out for the 2023 season with a lower leg injury, Cardinals head coach Jeff Brohm announced Saturday after the team’s fall scrimmage.”

Another safety is also hurt, per Brohm, who “also said fellow defensive back D’Angelo Hutchinson will be out ‘for an extended period of time’ with an undisclosed injury,” according to the Courier Journal. He could have been one of the backup options to replace Griffin, who played a huge role last year.

“Griffin played in all 13 games for U of L in 2022, replacing Kenderick Duncan as a starter in the final eight contests of the season. He totaled 45 tackles and two interceptions, capping off his redshirt sophomore campaign with three tackles and a forced fumble in the Cardinals’ Fenway Bowl win over Cincinnati.”

Tough news for Griffin and the Louisville defense as he was a vital member of an underrated and pretty strong Cardinal D a season ago, especially in the back half of the year. Griffin actually missed time early in the fall thanks to other injury issues but emerged as the starting free safety — and a very good one — as the year wore on.

Sure, the pass rush got a lot of the shine on last year’s defense, but it was also the secondary that helped provide enough coverage to keep the quarterbacks in the pocket and without an open target. Heading into this season, with three starters back (including Griffin) plus some good transfers, the secondary was scheduled to be the strong point.

On that front, the Griffin news is tough. But there are other noteworthy players — like fellow starting safety and senior Josh Minkins — as well as some capable backups to replace Griffin. Particularly, two transfer additions stick out: Baylor’s Devin Neal and North Carolina’s Cam’ron Kelly, who was a Third-Team All-ACC player back in 2021. Either one would be a nice replacement for Griffin.

The depth will obviously take a hit after that, but that’s why you have 100+ players on a roster. Unlike most schools, Louisville has proven power five depth in their backup safeties, which is quite a luxury in a situation like this.