South Alabama quarterback Carter Bradley wasn’t giving anything away when asked Monday if he would suit up for the annual “Battle for the Belt” at Troy after aggravating a knee injury against Louisiana this past Saturday.

“You’ll find out Thursday night,” Bradley said with a grin.

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The Jaguars’ record-setting passer was helped off the field by trainers with 16 seconds remaining in a 33-20 loss to the Ragin’ Cajuns at Hancock Whitney Stadium, having taken a final shot in a day filled with punishment on a failed two-point conversion attempt. That left his status for Thursday’s rivalry game vs. the first-place Trojans (6-2, 4-1 Sun Belt Conference) up in the air, though his presence at Monday’s press conference might lead one to believe he’s going to play.

Monday’s practice was closed to the media, but head coach Kane Wommack said Bradley “moved around pretty good” during the morning session. Bradley was walking without a limp and was not wearing any kind of brace on his injured left knee when he met with the media, for whatever that might be worth.

“I was optimistic more after seeing him today,” Wommack said. “Obviously, when he goes down, you hold your breath a little bit — that’s for anybody, but certainly the quarterback position, especially as well as he’s playing. I talked to him later on (Saturday) night and he started feeling a good bit better. He came up (for team meetings Sunday) significantly better and then moved around pretty good today. So he practiced well, seemed on top of his stuff. He’s been managing this knee for a few weeks now, and so it’s nothing new in terms of how he’s had to practice.”

Bradley has started every game at quarterback the last two years for the Jaguars (4-4, 2-2), and has thrown for 2,156 yards and 13 touchdowns with seven interceptions this season. He passed for a season-high 381 yards and two touchdowns against Louisiana, but was sacked five times — fumbling after three of them, with one returned for a TD — and threw two interceptions.

Should Bradley be unable to go Thursday, Wommack and his staff would have to choose between senior Desmond Trotter and true freshman Gio Lopez at quarterback. Trotter was the team’s primary starter in 2020 and fill-in quarterback when starter Jake Bentley missed three games with a knee injury (suffered against Troy, interestingly enough) in 2021, while Lopez has been first off the bench in those cases when Bradley has left the game with a huge lead this season.

Trotter replaced Bentley near the end of South Alabama’s first offensive series two years ago at Troy and played the rest of the game, passing for 138 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 43 yards and another score. Trotter, a Birmingham native, also threw an interception that was returned for a touchdown in a 31-24 loss.

Bradley missed the end of the second quarter vs. Southern Miss last November after taking a hard hit on his left (non-throwing shoulder), but returned after halftime and played the rest of the way in a 27-20 victory. Trotter filled in while Bradley was receiving treatment, leading the Jaguars to two first downs that set up a field goal that gave them a three-point halftime lead.

Lopez has played in a mop-up role in three games this season, meaning he can still play in one more and retain his redshirt year. The left-hander from Madison has completed 10 of 15 passes for 128 yards and a touchdown with an interception, and also ran for a 20-yard touchdown vs. Southern Miss.

Trotter is a capable runner and has vastly more experienced than Lopez, though the freshman can also run well and appears to have more upside as a downfield passer. Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Major Applewhite said the Jaguars will get all three quarterbacks prepared to play as best they can during the shortened week of practice.

“We’re going to rep all of them,” Applewhite said. “Dez, he’s got great experience. He’s actually played in that (Troy) game before at that place. So I feel very comfortable with him. He’s got a lot of experience in the offense. Gio has gotten some reps throughout the year. He’s still young in his development, but he’s come a long way and is doing great things as well.”

Troy has one of the best and most-experienced defensive fronts in the Sun Belt Conference, and the Trojans will no doubt send everything they can at Bradley to see how he holds up. Wommack said the Jaguars will have to be careful not to expose Bradley to being hit any more than is necessary.

“We’re going to have to find ways to protect him, just like anybody, but this is a very good defensive line,” Wommack said. “And so we’ve got to be very smart about it. We’re going to take shots; we’re going to throw the ball down the field. That’s what we do.

“But we’ve got to be very smart about how we do it and make sure that he gets the ball out of his hand on time so that we don’t take those sacks like we did last week. It’s not a surprise right that Troy’s defense is going to know like he may not be quite as mobile as he has been before. But, you know, I joke with him, it wasn’t like he was Mike Vick before.”

As Wommack noted, Bradley has been dealing with a sore left knee for several weeks. However, he appeared no less mobile than usual Saturday prior to the injury, which he said occurred when he “landed on it weird.”

South Alabama has lost six straight years to Troy, and would be challenged to beat the Trojans on the road even with a fully healthy Bradley. Still, the Jaguars quarterback said, there’s nothing to do but “learn from it and move on.”

“It’s not an easy thing to do that, but that’s the game of football,” Bradley said. “It’s a matter of how fast you can bounce back from these things. It’s a good challenge for us, they’re a really good team. They play very physical and sound on defense. We definitely have a handful this weekend, but it’s not something that we can’t handle.”

Kickoff Thursday for the “Battle for the Belt” is set for 6:30 p.m. at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Troy. The game will air live on ESPN2.