Ingram Missing Game With Knee Injury

Mark Ingram, the 2009 Heisman Trophy winner who led Alabama to the national championship and set the Crimson Tide rushing record for a season, will not be in the lineup when Alabama opens the season Saturday. Ingram suffered a knee injury Monday that required a medical procedure.

Alabama Coach Nick Saban said, "Mark Ingram sustained a left knee injury late in Monday’s practice. It was a situation where everyone involved thought it would be better to take care of now, so he would not have any issues with it later in the season.

“Mark had an arthroscopic procedure this morning with Dr. (Lyle) Cain and Dr. (James) Andrews and it was successful. We have full confidence in our medical staff and we know the doctors and athletic trainers will do an outstanding job in taking care of Mark and assisting him in his rehab.

“Mark will definitely be out for this week’s game against San Jose State and we will manage this on a week to week basis beyond this week. We will make every decision in the future based on what’s best for Mark and his career as we consult with Dr. Cain and Dr. Andrews on his progress. This is not an injury that will affect Mark’s future ability to make a full recovery in a relatively short time frame.”

Alabama opens the season at 6 p.m. CDT Saturday in Bryant-Denny Stadium hosting San Jose State. Ingram would not be expected to be needed for the opening game. Indeed, there was already speculation that proven players like Ingram would be expected to get an early exit from that game.

Going forward, Alabama hosts Penn State in the second week of the season (6 p.m. CDT on ESPN on Sept. 11), a game that Saban acknowledged this week is the "heavyweight" game at the beginning of the year.