NC State linebacker Jerod Fernandez suffers right leg injury, X-rays negative

NC State linebacker Jerod Fernandez suffered what appeared at the time to be a significant leg injury during the third quarter of the Wolfpack's win at Wake Forest on Saturday afternoon. Fernandez, who was in on a tackle, had a Wake offensive lineman land hard on his right leg, and he left the field with an air cast on that leg.

After the game, Dave Doeren said X-rays on Fernandez's leg were negative, which is outstanding news given how it looked on the field.

XRays for @J4_Fernandez were negative 'so that's a positive' says @StateCoachD

— #NCSUvsWAKE (@PackFootball) October 24, 2015

Here is the play in question:

As Fernandez spins around while making a tackle, Wake's No. 75 lands on his right leg. I've seen some folks suggest this was a dirty play, but it doesn't look like it to me--just false hustle on 75's part as he tries to finish the play. But judge for yourselves.

This is the closer angle, which makes it look like a late hit, and also makes it clear why this could have been a major injury:

If you have 300 pounds of man landing on your leg when it's at that angle, a lot can go wrong. On the bright side, Fernandez has apparently dodged some major bullets, based on what Doeren had to say about his X-rays. But that doesn't mean we'll see Fernandez back at full speed in the near term, either.