Clark Lea shares injury status of AJ Swann

Vanderbilt quarterback AJ Swann is dealing with an injury ahead of the Commodores’ Week 5 matchup against No. 23 Missouri. Swann exited late in Saturday’s 45-28 loss to Kentucky after struggling in the contest to go 16-of-40 passing for 189 yards and three interceptions.

Coach Clark Lea addressed the injury postgame, revealing that it is an elbow contusion that Swann suffered in Week 3. That puts Swann’s status in question for this weekend against the Wildcats, though it’s unclear how much Lea’s decision to take the quarterback out was due to the injury or his poor play.

“It’s still the elbow contusion from last week,” Lea said. “He battled it this week. He was able to return to the game last week and finish. …I just never saw him playing with confidence today. It felt like, offensively, we were playing from our heels a little bit. When it came down to the end, I just didn’t feel like he could play moving forward.”

Ken Seals entered the game at quarterback for the final drive of the game after Swann threw a pick six. He led the Commodores to a touchdown, completing 4-of-7 passes for 42 yards.

Lea liked the way the offense responded when Seals took over and it is likely he would start if Swann is unable to go. The coach also noted that Vanderbilt needs “better play” from the quarterback position, so it’s possible more than the injury may be at play here.

Seals has previous starting experience as he started a combined 16 games in his freshman and sophomore seasons (2020 and 2021). He had mixed results, however, to record a combined 3,109 yards, 17 touchdowns and 18 interceptions.

“I was proud of the way Ken came in and moved the offense for the last score,” Lea said. “We’ve gotta monitor AJ’s health and availability moving forward. We certainly need more from that position. We need better play from that position. We’ve gotta make better choices with the ball. When we’re late and we’re throwing it up, it has not gone well for our team. When we’re on time and in rhythm, good things happen.

“…Hopefully AJ will be all right. I think every exposure he has is learning, but we’ll have to monitor his availability moving forward.”

Vanderbilt is set to kick off against Missouri at 4 p.m. ET on Saturday at FirstBank Stadium in Nashville.