JACKSONVILLE — When Kennesaw State's Luke Duska suffered a harsh leg injury in Wednesday's loss to Jacksonville State, one of the first people to reach him was Jacksonville State head coach Charles Kelly.
The injury happened on the side of the field nearest to the Jax State sideline. Duska, an offensive lineman and a fifth-year player, was taken off the field on a stretcher.
Kelly said Friday in his regular weekly news conference that competition gets put to the side when a player gets injured.
"Everybody on the field knows it," Kelly said. "That was a bad injury, and I saw it. I could see it better than they could see from the sideline. I'm not smart enough to be a doctor or a trainer, but I knew it was bad. So, I wanted to go out there, you know, and check."
He added that he and Kennesaw State coach Jerry Mack spoke very briefly while trainers took Duska off the field.
"Listen, these athletes that go out, I don't care what sport it is, as much as they work and compete and do the things that they do, I don't care what team they're on, they're human beings. So, I just basically wanted to see if he was OK. … At the end of the day, we all want to win, but we all got in this business as coaches to help student athletes, and it doesn't matter what team they're on."
Mack addressed Duska's injury during his own news conference Friday.
"I think Luke is going to probably be out for the season," Mack said. "I can't disclose the actual in depth of the injury, but he probably will not be with us anymore this season as a football player."
