South Alabama quarterback Carter Bradley was helped off the field with a knee injury in the final seconds of the Jaguars’ 33-20 loss to Louisiana on Saturday night, which would be a major concern in any week.

However, with South Alabama (4-4, 2-2 Sun Belt Conference) facing a short week before Thursday’s “Battle for the Belt” against Troy, it’s a potential calamity. Head coach Kane Wommack said after the game that early indications are Bradley isn’t seriously injured, but it remains too early to tell.

RELATED: South Alabama falls 33-20 to Louisiana, worst home loss under Kane Wommack

Bradley was injured on a two-point conversion attempt, when he was hit after throwing an incomplete pass. The Jaguars had just scored a touchdown and were trying to cut the Ragin’ Cajuns’ lead to 11 points, which would have theoretically (there were only 16 seconds remaining) given them a chance to tie the game with two onside kicks and two quick scores.

Wommack said the injury aggravated something that had been an issue for Bradley — who was not made available for post-game interviews — much of the season. He threw for 381 yards and two touchdowns on Saturday, but threw two interceptions and fumbled three times after being sacked.

“He tweaked his knee in the end there,” Wommack said. “He’s such a competitor and he’s trying to make something happen.

“… He knew he was going to have to fight and take some hits tonight in the second half when we were down. I think (the prognosis) is probably pretty positive from what I’ve heard. It’s going to be pretty sore. He got dinged up, similar to the injury he’s been dealing with all season, but it just got tweaked.”

1/30

Bradley, the Jaguars’ all-time leader in nearly every single-game, single-season and career passing statistic, has yet to miss a game since transferring to South Alabama from Toledo prior to the 2022 season. The sixth-year senior missed part of the second quarter vs. Southern Miss last November after taking a hard shot to his left (non-throwing) shoulder, but returned to finish off a 27-20 victory and played the following week vs. Old Dominion.

Should Bradley be unable to go vs. Troy, the Jaguars would turn to either sixth-year senior Desmond Trotter or true freshman Gio Lopez. Trotter — South Alabama’s primary starting quarterback in 2020 — is by far the more-experienced of the two, but it’s the dynamic Lopez who has been first off the bench in three of South Alabama’s wins this season.

“We may have to get some other guys reps just to get the other 10 (offensive players) out there ready to go,” Wommack said. “So we’ll see. Our plan this week was … to keep things off of them for the most part anyway. You just don’t want to wear guys out on a short week. You want to play really fast on Thursday night.

“And so we’ll kind of take a look at what gives us the best chance to get Carter ready, and those other guys, based off a short week and him getting banged up a little.”

Kickoff for South Alabama-Troy is set for 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Troy. The game will be televised by ESPN2.