BYU football: Cougar camp

PROVO — BYU opened fall football camp a little shorthanded.

Conspicuously absent during drills was star wide receiver Austin Collie, who underwent an MRI Friday night that revealed a stress fracture in his right leg below the knee. Yet nobody around the program seemed to be overly concerned about the injury.

After the conclusion of the Cougars' first practice of fall camp, Collie, who sported a bone stimulator taped to his leg, downplayed the severity of the stress fracture.

"It's really not that serious. It's just a minor setback that I'm going to have to get over," he said. "It's going to take some extra time in the weight room and in the training room. It's nothing serious or bad. It's something that we want to make sure doesn't linger on throughout the year."

He also assured everyone that he would be ready to play in the season opener against Northern Iowa.

"No doubt. We'll be ready," Collie said. "Hopefully, I'll have a week to prepare, maybe more than that, to prepare for Northern Iowa and be back with the team."

The injury was not the result of a specific incident, Collie said, but something that transpired over time. "It was a gradual process from cutting on that leg all the time," he said. "There wasn't one specific moment that it happened, it just gradually happened and got worse and worse."

"With Austin, it's a stress fracture that's not serious in terms of limiting his chance to play," said coach Bronco Mendenhall. "Two weeks of rest is probably what will happen. He'll be involved a little bit out here with the younger receivers. We're not concerned about his readiness to play this season nor in our opener."

Quarterback Max Hall isn't concerned about Collie's status either.

"I'm not worried about it at all," Hall said. "Austin's a tough guy. He'll get rehab and whatever he needs to do. He's just a little dinged up. He's a great competitor, a great player. I'll be excited when he gets back, though. He could practice right now, but I'd rather have him healthy and good-to-go than have a nagging injury bugging him."

Still, Hall acknowledged that he missed being able to throw to Collie. "Austin's my go-to guy, so it's a little different not having him out there. But other guys are stepping in and catching balls," he said. "When you have other guys stepping in, it's OK, but I definitely miss him."

Mendenhall said Collie's injury will present an opportunity to see what the backups at that position can do.