Rebels get good news on injury to Clausen

ELY -- UNLV junior Mike Clausen didn't take snaps in Saturday's two football practices, but at least he was able to wear the green quarterback jersey rather than the blue one assigned to injured players.

Clausen's left ankle wasn't seriously injured Friday after it was stepped on, forcing him to leave the field on a cart.

Even before Clausen's injury, senior Omar Clayton seemed to be edging toward retaining the starting job. Clayton took the great majority of snaps Friday and, with Clausen sidelined, did so again Saturday.

Clayton threw touchdown passes of 50 yards to junior wide receiver Michael Johnson and 32 yards to sophomore wide receiver Aaron Reed in the morning practice and in the afternoon connected with junior wide receiver Phillip Payne for a 73-yard touchdown.

But Clayton also was intercepted in the afternoon by junior cornerback Will Chandler, who took advantage of an underthrown deep pass to Payne.

■ THOMPSON INJURED -- Sophomore tailback Imari Thompson suffered what appeared to be a serious right ankle injury in the afternoon session.

"I'm worried about that one," coach Bobby Hauck said. "That could be long term. It didn't look good."

Hauck said Thompson would have an MRI and more information on his condition will be available today.

Thompson is competing at tailback but is behind at least three others.

■ WALKING WOUNDED -- Training camp injuries are piling up with more players missing time, including a large chunk of the wide receivers unit. The injuries aren't serious enough to keep players out for an extended time but are a sign of the toll that camp is taking on them.

Some players are playing through it. Senior linebacker Starr Fuimaono and senior defensive tackle Isaako Aaitui are practicing with casts on their hands, and redshirt freshman tailback Bradley Randle didn't come out despite limping.

Hauck's policy is he will not discuss injuries in detail unless a player is expected to be out for a considerable amount of time because he doesn't want to give an edge to opponents.

Contact reporter Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2914.