Receiver Jackson Questionable For Illinois

Washington State receiver Chris Jackson has a kidney contusion and is questionable for Saturday’s non-conference football game at Illinois, trainer Mark Smaha said Tuesday.

Jackson was hit in the side and fell on the football during Saturday’s 28-21 victory over USC, but the injury was not considered serious until Tuesday, when blood appeared in his urine.

“We ran some tests on him today to determine the extent of it and we’ll know some more answers here in a while,” Smaha said. “It could (keep him from playing Saturday). My gut feeling now is that it won’t, but it could.”

Jackson, who has three receptions for 141 yards and one touchdown this season, did not practice Tuesday.

Defensive tackle Leon Bender suffered a broken rib against the Trojans. Remarkably, Bender practiced Tuesday and is not expected to miss any playing time.

“We thought his rib was broke, but he wasn’t giving us the pain that went along with a fractured rib,” Smaha said. “He said, ‘Hey, would you feel this? It feels kind of funny.’ And the damn thing’s broke. I mean, I’ve never seen anything like that before. Very, very unusual.”

Bender will wear extra rib cage padding, not unlike what many quarterbacks wear. For that, he took some additional ribbing from WSU quarterback Ryan Leaf, who jokingly suggested that the 291-pound enforcer had turned soft.

Bender laughed, without so much as a wince.

Defensive end Dorian Boose missed practice with a sprained ankle and sprained knee, but he is expected to return as early as today.

Linebacker Steve Gleason is listed day-to-day with a sore back.

, DataTimes