FORT COLLINS —A year ago, the same five offensive linemen started every game for Colorado State, in the same spots.
Beyond that, four of the five were seniors. Only left tackle Ty Sambrailo returned.
This year’s Rams faced going with a retooled offensive line, and that was before injuries hit. Sambrailo suffered a sprained knee in the first five minutes of the season opener against Colorado, but he’s expected to be back in the lineup this week at Boston College.
But CSU coach Jim McElwain Monday confirmed that redshirt freshman center Jake Bennett suffered a knee injury in practice last Thursday during the bye week and will probably miss the rest of the season. The practice was closed, and Monday was the first time McElwain was available to the media since last Wednesday.
McElwain said the injury to Bennett, from Bear Creek High School in Lakewood, is believed to be a torn anterior cruciate ligament, pending additional testing. Surgery hasn’t yet been scheduled.
“There’s some bone bruise in there too, and I’m not sure it doesn’t have to settle a little bit before you redo the MRI, from what I understand, to exactly see the damage,” McElwain said. “And then once you get in there is where sometimes (doctors) figure out all the things that are not (right) there.
“It’s something that’s not good. It’s enough that he’s probably gone for the season. … It was one of those freak things where you run the same drill 10,000 times in your career and just planted wrong. It’s a shame. But Jake will come back, he’s a tough guy and he’s got a bright, bright future here, obviously.”
McElwain said the plan to replace Bennett remains up in the air. Part of it depends on how Sambrailo looks this week, but the coach mentioned the possibility of moving redshirt sophomore guard Fred Zerblis, a backup at center last year, back to center. With Sambrailo returning, his replacement at tackle — sophomore Nick Callender — could move to guard.
“I’m going to be working in this week, getting back into it,” Sambrailo said. “I should be good to go for the game. … I’m feeling 100 percent.”
He said moving on without Bennett is just another challenge.
“We’re faced with those every week, regardless of who’s playing,” Sambrailo said. “But he’s a tough kid. I know that about him. He’s going to be just fine.”
Footnotes. The Rams are traveling to Boston on Thursday and holding their Friday walkthrough at the New England Patriots’ facility in Foxborough. “It’s nice to have some friends in certain places,” said McElwain, who spent the 2006 season in the NFL as an Oakland Raiders assistant. … McElwain also said he spoke with Colorado coach Mike MacIntyre, whose team played Massachusetts in Foxborough on Sept. 6, to compare notes about this kind of trip. “He was very helpful on that,” McElwain said. The Buffs also traveled to Massachusetts on Thursday of game week. … As the Rams gathered in the McGraw Center auditorium for the team meeting before practice Monday, music was blaring on the speakers. The song was one of Boston’s greatest hits. So McElwain’s first task was going to be to explain just who those guys were.
Terry Frei: tfrei@denverpost.com or
