Charlotte head football coach Biff Poggi opened up his Tuesday press conference with unusually bad news before his team’s Week 1 game against JMU.

“We have come out of camp, unfortunately, pretty banged up,” Poggi said. “We have definitely eight, probably nine starters that are injured. Which is, I’m not great at math, but it’s getting close to 50%.”

Poggi dropped the bombshell news at the beginning of his opening statement, although he declined to tell the media which players were injured. Projected starting quarterback Max Brown, a Florida transfer, spoke to the media Tuesday, suggesting he’s healthy. Star cornerback Donte Balfour also addressed the media.

Why Does Charlotte Have 8-9 Key Injuries?

The natural question following Poggi’s announcement was, ‘What in the heck happened?’

Poggi blamed himself for the injuries, suggesting JMU’s status as one of the better Group of Five teams led to more aggressive practices with injury risk.

“I take responsibility for that as the head football coach,” Poggi said. “When you open with JMU, a program that’s 19-4 over the last couple years, you can get a little overzealous. You have to balance between that callus that you want the players to have and then getting them healthy. I think I get an F- on that for this camp.”

Poggi said he expects the team to be at full strength going into AAC games. For JMU, however, the Dukes could be facing a weakened Charlotte team.

The injuries are likely to impact Saturday’s game plan, Poggi said.

“The honest answer is, it makes you reign it in a little bit,” Poggi said. “You don’t want to put young, inexperienced players in positions that might show that inexperience … you don’t go in with as full of a game plan as you normally would.”

JMU Mostly Healthy

JMU, on the other hand, enters Week 1 healthy.

Left tackle Tyshawn Wyatt wasn’t listed on the team’s initial depth chart, but it’s possible he’s still recovering from offseason surgery. If he can’t play against Charlotte, he’s expected to be ready to play in the near future. The rest of the team, according to head coach Bob Chesney, looks healthy.

The Dukes should play at close to full strength Saturday night in Charlotte.

Photo: Charlotte Athletics