A knee injury will force Stanford defensive end Henry Anderson to miss "a few weeks," beginning with the Cardinal's Pac-12 opener against Arizona State on Saturday, head coach David Shaw said.
Anderson will not miss the rest of the season, Shaw said Tuesday during the weekly Pac-12 teleconference. Additional details about the extent of Anderson's injury would be available later this week, Shaw added.
Anderson was hurt in Stanford's 34-20 win at Army and had an MRI on Monday, The Bootleg reported.
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A redshirt junior from Atlanta, Anderson has two tackles with one-half tackle for loss through two games this season. Anderson was a second-team All-Pac-12 honoree after posting 50 tackles, 16 tackles for loss with six sacks last season, elevating his play against Oregon and UCLA in the conference championship game (12 tackles with 4.5 tackles for loss).
But Stanford shouldn't see an immediate drop-off at the position, with redshirt senior Josh Mauro ready to step in. Mauro has been a constant piece in the defensive line rotation since last season and played well after Anderson got hurt. Mauro had seven tackles against the Black Knights' triple-option offense.
"I consider Josh a starter," Shaw told the San Francisco Chronicle after the Army game. "He's going to play in the NFL, no question. He made some plays I hadn't seen guys make in quite a while."
Depth could be an issue, however, especially considering the Sun Devils' breakneck pace. Arizona State ran a whopping 93 plays in its 32-30 win over Wisconsin.
Follow Dan Greenspan on Twitter @DanGreenspan.
