Kristofer O’Dowd‘s junior season at Southern Cal began with a dislocated kneecap suffered during training camp, an injury that forced him to the bench for the season opener.
Five games after returning, O’Dowd finds himself back on the bench, although this time it’s not wholly related to the injury.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Jeff Byers will move from left guard and replace O’Dowd in the starting lineup.
“I haven’t played up to my capability or my standards as well as my coaches’ standards,” O’Dowd said.
The lineman did allow that the injury may have played a part in his sub-par play, saying that he may have rushed himself back onto the field too soon.
“I tried to fight back and got back as quickly as I could, but it still wasn’t necessarily 100%,” he said. “I was hoping that by going out there and working on it, I would build it up to where it would get back to normal, but it just hasn’t been the case.”
