When Auburn cornerback Keionte Scott left Saturday night’s game against Samford in the first half and later returned in street clothes and wearing a boot, it wasn’t a good sign.

“Unfortunately, Keionte did not get a good report,” Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze said during his weekly press conference Monday. “That hurts us a lot. He’s our leader back there. He’s going to have surgery today. Hasn’t been a good year for us with injuries. Losing him and Keys on the defensive side. It stings, it hurts.”

The day following the injury, Scott took to the social platform X — formerly known as Twitter — to express his thoughts.

“Great battle for me Mentally, Physically, and Spiritually,” Scott wrote. “Thank you Lord I Trust and praise you through the good and bad.”

Monday evening, Scott posted to his Instagram that his scheduled surgery was successful.

And in another showing of transparency, Scott uploaded a vlog to YouTube, taking viewers through the process of being checked into the hospital, talking with doctors and offering his own thoughts on the challenge that lies ahead of him.

About 4:30 minutes into the video, a doctor is overheard explaining Scott’s injury to the Auburn cornerback.

“You’ve had a high-ankle sprain before from what I understand, is that right?,” the doctor asks.

Scott replied in the affirmative, suggesting that a high-ankle sprain is the injury Scott sustained against Samford.

“The high-ankle ligaments are the ones that live on the top of the ankle, that hold the two bones together,” the doctor continues. “And you’ve torn those apart.”

In 2019, Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa suffered the same injury and received the same surgery Scott did Monday — a tight-rope procedure.

“Basically, it’s two little metal brackets. It’s quadrupled over with four tight ropes — synthetic ropes that are super, super strong — that are going to hold the two bones together, okay? And we’re going to put two of them in there,” the doctor said, explaining the procedure. “I’ve done tons and tons and tons of these. And what we’ve found is that we can rehab you pretty fast.”

In Scott’s video, the doctor tells him that for four days, no weight will be put on the affected ankle. Instead, Scott will “live” in cold compression to get the ankle’s swelling to go down.

After the four-day mark and swelling is under control, the plan is to get the ankle moving again, the doctor told Scott.

“Usually sometime around day 10 to 14, we’ll have you walking on the Alter-G, walking on underwater treadmill,” the doctor said. “And it’s not going to feel normal. Sometime in that area, you’re going to take off. And I don’t know what it is, but something will happen and you’ll go from limping and really sore, to walking pretty normal. When you walk normal, we’ll take you off the treadmill and put you on land and we’ll let you start doing straight ahead stuff.”

The doctor goes on to tell Scott that when walking and running on land feels normal, he’ll then be promoted to be able to do cutting movements.

“You’re a defensive back and returner, so for you in particular, you have the one position that’s probably the most challenging,” the doctor told Scott. “You can do it and I’ve done it a ton, but you’ve gotta be able to back pedal, right. And to be able to back pedal, you’ve gotta be able to get up on your toes… That’ll be the last thing that comes. When you can show me that you can do 15 single-leg hops safely, I’ll clear you.”

How long will it take Scott to do 15 single-leg hops safely?

The doctor tells Scott that if he “hits all the boxes” in physical therapy, he’ll be cleared. However, the doctor didn’t offer a specific timeframe.

In the case of Tagovailoa in 2019, the Alabama quarterback suffered the injury on Oct. 19 and started for the Crimson Tide against LSU on Nov. 9.

And while getting Scott back as soon as possible would undoubtedly bolster a quickly thinning Auburn defense, the doctor was sure to remind the defensive back that wasn’t the goal of the procedure.

“The reason to do the surgery is not to get you back playing quickly, it’s actually to be able to make your ankle normal,” the doctor told Scott. “That’s No. 1. No. 2 is I’ve got some good MRIs of some guys who’ve had this surgery who’ve had an injury again and it definitely provides some protective mechanisms. So there’s some benefit long-term for it, too.”

The good news is Scott seemed to be in a good headspace, all things considered.

While he did describe himself to viewers as a “highly, highly nervous person” while changing into his hospital gown, Scott has a good attitude.

“Stuff happens, man. And as the end of the day, I feel like this injury doesn’t define me. If anything, it gives me a little bit more hunger and makes me consider — even though I always do — it’s just a reminder that the game could be gone just like that,” Scott said in the video.

“Situations can do two things to you. You can grow from it, or you can lose from it. And I ain’t taking no Ls,” Scott said in the video. “So I’m just going to grind, man. Going to chop wood every day. I can’t wait for the get-back. Stay tuned.”