Stanquan Clark injury update: Major news emerges on Louisville linebacker

Louisville linebacker Stanquan Clark is expected to be out until “well into October,” per CBS Sports‘ Matt Zenitz. Clark suffered a lower-leg injury in the fourth quarter of Louisville’s 28-14 win over James Madison on Friday.

Clark’s injury occurred when he broke down to make a tackle. He folded backward on his own leg, which was trapped underneath him.

Louisville’s staff helped Clark off the field. After being in Louisville’s medical tent for several minutes, Clark was carted off the field. After the game, Cardinals head coach said he could see Clark being out “for an extensive period of time.”

It’s a major loss for the Cardinals. Clark tallied 76 tackles, two forced fumbles and two interceptions for Louisville last season. As a true freshman in 2023, Clark recorded 15 tackles and a forced fumble. Clark notched one tackle in Louisville’s season-opening win over Eastern Kentucky.

Unfortunately, this injury isn’t the first of Clark’s collegiate career. Clark missed all of Louisville’s spring training due to a shoulder injury. However, he returned ahead of fall camp after making a full recovery.

“Quan is 100 percent now, and there’s nothing holding him back,” Louisville linebackers coach Mark Ivey said. “We did kind of take our time making sure he didn’t do anything in the spring, but he’s good now.

“We’ve seen that because we do our contact drills during individuals, full live tackling, anything we got more, we’re good to go. It would have been great having him out there in spring, but he was able to step in this summer and do all the stuff with us there. Now he’s just rotating back through.”

While Clark couldn’t participate in the team’s live-action competition during the spring, he didn’t allow his understanding of the game to wither. Last month, Clark revealed how he’d remained focused during the setback.

“It was just a little difficult, because I wanted to be out there with my brothers and stuff like that,” Clark said. “But I was there every single day, just watching them, helping TJ and the rest of the linebackers getting calls and stuff like that.

“I was there every day, but I wasn’t physically out there, so it wasn’t that bad. I would just say that I was trying to help them get better, and focus on the mental part of it.”

Stanquan Clark will have to show off his resilience once again. Louisville has a bye this week, but will square off against Bowling Green in Week 4 at noon ET. The game will air live on the ACC Network.