Arizona LB Scooby Wright out several weeks with foot injury

Scooby Wright is hurt again and will miss several weeks with a foot injury.

It has been a season to forget for Arizona Wildcats linebacker Scooby Wright who was injured in the first quarter of the season opener to only return last week against UCLA and suffer a foot injury that will sideline him for several weeks.

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Arizona head coach Rich Rodriguez said Wright needed an MRI after landing awkwardly during Arizona’s 56-30 loss to the Bruins on Saturday but the knee he injured in the opener was fine after the game.

Rodriguez said the injury diagnosis was actually good news and were thinking about a potential medical redshirt for Wright who won the Nagurski, Lombardi and Bednarik as the nation’s top defender last year en route to being a consensus All-American.

Arizona’s defense has been a shell of what it was last year when Wright was so dominant and despite tying for the team lead with seven tackles against UCLA, Wright was not the same disruptive player he was last year. Then again, he led the nation in tackles, tackles for loss, forced fumbles and was third in sacks, and he was playing in his first game since a meniscus injury, so the standards were awfully high.

The hope is Wright will be able to return at some point this year, but if Arizona is out of the Pac-12 South division title later in the year the team may prefer to be cautious and hold him out until a bowl game. Wright is eligible to declare for the NFL Draft should he want after this season.

Arizona plays Stanford on Saturday and presents a tough matchup without Wright against one of the nation’s best players in Christian McCaffrey and the Cardinal.

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