The training room is getting crowded, the sight of knee braces and crutches all too familiar.
The Gophers football team is 2-0, but already five players have torn an anterior cruciate ligament in their knee.
Coach Jerry Kill announced Tuesday that backup middle linebacker Nick Rallis has been added to the list of players with season-ending knee injuries. Though Kill didn't give specifics, Rallis joined the list of ACL patients, joining linebacker Cody Poock, defensive tackle Scott Ekpe, tight end Duke Anyanwu and offensive lineman Jared Weyler.
But Kill had good news about another knee injury. Quarterback Mitch Leidner, who sprained the medical collateral ligament in his left knee Saturday, was gearing up for Tuesday's practice.
"I can't guarantee anything" about Leidner's availability for Saturday's game at Texas Christian, Kill said. "But I can guarantee you that he's going to practice, and that will help us determine some things."
Tight end Maxx Williams, Leidner's close friend, was more emphatic.
"Mitch is going to play, no doubt in my mind," Williams said. "Mitch is one of the toughest guys I know, by far. I couldn't even tell if anything was wrong with him. … All I know is he's in there practicing with us."
Leidner got hit in the knee while releasing a pass in the fourth quarter against Middle Tennessee State. The trainers put a brace on the knee, and he ran along the sideline but had trouble replicating his drop-back motion.