Jake Bailey injury update: SMU WR out for remainder of season

SMU wide receiver Jake Bailey is out for at least the rest of the 2024 regular season , head coach Rhett Lashlee announced on Tuesday. Bailey was injured in the win over Duke and has been out with an injury around his SC joint around his shoulder.

SMU head coach Rhett Lashlee spoke about Bailey’s status last week, hoping to get him back, but new information revealed his injury wasn’t healing as quickly as it should. If SMU makes the postseason and plays deep into the College Football Playoff, Bailey could return.

“So it looks like it does we’re not gonna get Jake back this year,” Lashlee said Tuesday. “It’s really disappointing for him. Jake’s one of our leaders. He’s now in his third year. He’s poured everything into this program. You know, our first year was playing well, got hurt. Last year was our leading receiver. This year was our leading receiver before he got injured. You know, so not having him in there with nothing else just from a leadership standpoint and trust, but production standpoint hurts us, but I know it hurts him and our guys.

“So we’re disappointed for Jake. I don’t ever say never, depending on how long we play, because you could play into January, middle of January now. But it looks like it’s gonna take a lot longer to heal than maybe we’d all hoped.”

In eight games this season, Bailey caught 19 passes for 275 yards and a touchdown. Last year in 14 games, he caught 42 passes for 528 yards as the Mustangs won the AAC Championship.

With Jake Bailey out, SMU wide receiver Roderick Daniels, Jr. will continue to see time in the slot as the starter while one-time walk-on Carter Campbell will also get opportunities.