Inside The Panthers

Pitt Still Dealing With Injuries After Bye Week

The Pitt Panthers are still banged up as they prepare to take on No. 14 Louisville.

Stephen Thompson

Pitt Still Dealing With Injuries After Bye Week
Pitt Still Dealing With Injuries After Bye Week /
In this story:

PITTSBURGH -- The bye week typically allows teams to rest and recover from demanding first halves, but the Pitt Panthers didn't enjoy that same luxury as they sat idle last weekend. 

Pitt head coach Pat Narduzzi said the Panthers are still banged up as they opened Louisville week, a concerning thing as they prepare to host the No. 14 team in the country. 

“Wasn’t as good as we wanted it to be and I’ll leave it there," Narduzzi said of his last week of practice. "In the open week, we weren’t happy and we got some guys banged up in the open week."

Narduzzi said the Panthers, who are riding a four-game losing streak that matches the longest of his tenure as head coach in Pittsburgh, were unable to get fully healthy at least in part because they continued to put on pads and hit during the off-week. 

He thought some physicality was necessary coming off a game against Virginia Tech in which they were credited with an astounding 26 missed tackles, according to Pro Football Focus. 

"We went out there in shells and we played football, which is what we needed," Narduzzi said. "We needed to go out and play football and execute and get better fundamentally."

The two biggest lingering ailments are those to center Jake Kradel and linebacker Bangally Kamara, both starters. Whether they come back this week remains to be seen. Narduzzi declined to add any specifics but reiterated that Pitt isn't in the spot they'd like to be.

"So we got a couple of guys who got banged up last week," Narduzzi said. "Hopefully, they’ll be ready to go but we certainly didn’t do ourselves any favors.” 

Make sure you bookmark Inside the Panthers for the latest news, exclusive interviews, recruiting coverage, and more!

Why Pitt Turned to Christian Veilleux 

Pat Narduzzi Says Phil Jurkovec Sticking at QB

Pat Narduzzi Confirms Pitt's Starting QB Change

Gametime For Pitt-Wake Forest Announced

Pitt Opens As Heavy Underdog to Louisville

Former Pitt RB Suffers Knee Injury

Published
Stephen Thompson
STEPHEN THOMPSON

Stephen Thompson graduated with a bachelor's degree in communications and political science from Pitt in April 2022 after spending four years as a sports writer and editor at The Pitt News, the University of Pittsburgh's independent, student-run newspaper.  He primarily worked the Pitt men's basketball beat, and filled in on coverage of football, volleyball, softball, gymnastics and lacrosse, in addition to other sports as needed. His work at The Pitt News has won awards from the Pennsylvania News Media Association and Associated College Press.  During the spring and summer of 2021, Stephen interned for Pittsburgh Sports Now, covering baseball in western Pennsylvania. Hailing from Washington D.C., family ties have cultivated a love of Boston's professional teams and Pitt athletics, and a fascination with sports in general.  You can reach Stephen by email at stephenethompson00@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter. Read his latest work:

Home/Football