Byrd out for year after ankle injury

Southern Miss football coach Larry Fedora confirmed at Wednesday's practice defensive end Roshaad Byrd will miss the rest of the 2009 season after dislocating his left ankle at practice on Tuesday afternoon.


"It happened in practice yesterday and he was evaluated last night," Fedora said. "He was in surgery from around midnight to 2 a.m. He got rolled up in a team drill.

"There is a fine line on how much tackling you can do (in practice) and that is the way it works."

In six starts this season, Byrd had tallied 12 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and one sack.


Law said he's ready to step up, but is going to be winded this weekend.


"I'm looking forward to the playing time," Law said. "But you have to understand Roshaad is going to be missed, he truly helped me be better by keeping us both fresh."


Conditioning could be key this weekend, especially against Memphis' up-tempo spread offense.


"Usually we're checking in and out for each other, now it's just me out there," Law said. "Coach got on me in practice today because I ran off the field and called for him to go in without thinking about it."


As a team, the Eagles have sacked opposing quarterbacks 16 times in six games.