Louisville OL Monroe Mills Out Indefinitely

The left tackle for the Cardinals suffered a knee injury during the loss to SMU.

A pylon at L&N Stadium during Louisville's spring game. / Jared Anderson - Louisville Report

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Louisville football program has been dealt yet another significant injury.

Starting left tackle Monroe Mills will be out for an undisclosed amount of time with the anticipation that he will return at some this season, head coach Jeff Brohm announced Monday. Mills suffered a knee injury in the second quarter of Saturday's 34-27 loss to SMU.

"It will knock him out," Brohm said. "I anticipate him coming back at some point, but it will be him playing injured and his willingness to do that. We're still looking through a few things on that."

The 6-foot-7, 315-pound lineman has started in all five of Louisville's games up to this point. He had allowed just six pressures in 153 pass blocking snaps and 259 blocking snaps overall, and was Louisville's highest-graded offensive lineman per Pro Football Focus at 68.3.

With Mills out for the time being, Louisville has a few options to replace their blindside blocker. Trevonte Sylvester and Rasheed Miller have each seen time at left tackle, but have played just 71 combined snaps at the position. Starting left guard Michael Gonzalez has also played some left tackle in the past.

The Cardinals have certainly had to deal with a number injuries to key players so far this season. Star cornerback Quincy Riley (foot) has missed the last two games, star wide receiver Caullin Lacy (collarbone) had to miss the first three games, surging reserve wide receiver Jadon Thompson (knee) is out for the year, while defensive tackle Dezmond Tell (undisclosed) missed the game vs. SMU.

Mills joined Louisville this past offseason as a transfer from Texas Tech, and was coming off of his best season at the college level. Starting all 12 games for the Red Raiders in 2023, he allowed only two sacks, three quarterback hits and 10 hurries in 500 pass block snaps and 894 blocking snaps overall. His efforts earned him an All-Big 12 honorable mention.

The Columbia, Mo. native spent the first two years of his career with Oklahoma State, but only played 19 total snaps during his time as a Cowboy. For the 2022 season, which was his first year with Texas Tech, Mills started 10 games at right tackle, allowing just one sacks, two quarterback hits and 22 hurries in 543 pass block snaps and 856 blocking snaps overall.

(Photo via Jared Anderson - Louisville Cardinals On SI)

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