The loss to South Carolina Saturday was bad enough for Alabama. Now, they me be sans one of their top offensive players for a bit of time as well.
Head coach Nick Saban announced Monday afternoon that star wide receiver Julio Jones suffered a broken hand in the loss to South Carolina. Jones has already undergone surgery to repair the damage.
Jones suffered the injury in the first quarter of the loss but, amazingly, stayed in the contest.
While Saban did not give a timeline for Jones’ return -- it could very well come down to pain tolerance -- we’re hearing he could very likely miss the next two games against Ole Miss and Tennessee, but return following the bye week for the Nov. 6 showdown with LSU. Or, he could miss no game action at all; again, his status will likely be determined by a combination of pain tolerance and how cautious the Tide medical staff is in dealing with the injury.
The early signals coming from Tuscaloosa, however, are not very positive for his short-term availability.
Obviously, losing Jones for any period of time would be a fairly significant blow as he leads the team with 32 catches for 442 yards and three receiving touchdowns but, the way the schedule sets up the next couple of weeks, his loss would be mitigated somewhat.
The hand issue is the latest in a series of injuries that have hampered the talented receiver. In the week leading up to the Gamecocks game, there was some uncertainty as to his availability due to a bruised knee.
