Pitt deals with early injuries to Dewayne Hendrix and Elijah Zeise

Pitt won its opener against Villanova on Saturday, defeating the Wildcats 28-7. But they also suffered a couple of injuries along the way.

Lost during the game were defensive end Dewayne Hendrix and linebacker Elijah Zeise.

After the game, head coach Pat Narduzzi didn’t have any immediate word on either player but thought both would be fine. However, Chris Peak also reported that both were in walking boots and neither returned to the game.

Now, for some perspective here, remember that Narduzzi initially said Conner was fine last year when he was pulled from the Youngstown State game before it was announced he had an MCL injury and would miss the season. Because of that, many fans won’t take these current declarations to mean that the players won’t miss any time. We simply don’t know right now.

Both are important to the team and as a starter, Hendrix’ loss really hurts the team’s pass rush. Rori Blair backs him up there and is capable, but Hendrix was one of those guys expected to become a dominant player.

More won’t be known until later today or possibly this week during Narduzzi’s press conference.