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Injured Bradley thinks he will play

Hawaii wide receiver Rodney Bradley said he hopes to play in Saturday’s game against Louisiana Tech, although his availability will not be determined until mid-week.

"I think I’ll be able to go," said Bradley, who suffered what he termed a "strained" left hamstring while running a deep route in the second quarter of a 66-7 victory over Charleston Southern.

Bradley, who limped off the field, said he did not initially believe the injury was a concern. But he said his left hamstring was "sore" yesterday morning.

He said he received ice treatment and electrical-stimulation therapy yesterday afternoon.

"I’ll be getting therapy the rest of the week," he said.

He said he received several ice packs that he will use at night. He said a determination on his playing status will be made Wednesday or Thursday.

Bradley, who plays left wideout, is one of the Warriors’ top deep threats. He missed the final seven games of the 2009 season after suffering two leg fractures.

If Bradley is not available to play, the Warriors have several contingency plans. One of them might not involve Joe Avery, who complained of dizziness after landing awkwardly while attempting a catch Saturday.

If Avery also is not available, the immediate replacement would be Billy Ray Stutzmann, who played left wideout in the second half. Stutzmann has played mostly on the right side at UH — he caught his first UH touchdown pass Saturday while playing right wideout — but he was a left wideout in high school.

Mouse Davis, who coaches the receivers, said two other options are to switch Mike Tinoco to the left side, or to move one of the backup slotbacks — Ryan Henry or Dustin Blount — to left wideout.

Davis said there are no plans to move freshman slotback Allen Sampson to wideout.

Right slotback Kealoha Pilares, who started the final seven games of 2009 at left wideout as the injury replacement for Bradley, also will not move.

"We want Kealoha to keep doing what he’s doing," Davis said, noting Pilares’ production dropped after moving to wideout last year. "We’re not going to screw it up."

Davis said there are enough options to stick with the plan of redshirting Darius Bright this season. Bright, who transferred from City College of San Francisco in January, was on the travel roster for the recent 13-day road trip but did not play. He is allowed to redshirt if he does not play any snaps this year.

 

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