Freshman cornerback Charles Gaines has confirmed via Facebook that he will have surgery on his shoulder and will be sidelined for an unspecified period of time. The rumor is the surgery will put Gaines out of action for at least 6-8 weeks, meaning he will almost certainly be redshirted.
The injury was apparently one Gaines suffered unknowingly and had been playing with for some time.
Gaines came to Louisville as a highly-touted wide receiver who graduated high school a semester early and was able to enroll at U of L in January. On April 7, he was moved from wide receiver to corner, where he played for the remainder of spring practice. The move appeared to be working out for both Gaines and the Cardinal defense, as the true freshman was running with the second team and pushing for a starting spot at the time of his injury.
The loss of Gaines means true freshman Andrew Johnson and redshirt freshman Stephan Robinson will likely serve as the immediate backups to starting corners Jordan Paschal and Anthony Conner. It also makes the addition of former Florida CB Adrian Bushell that much more crucial.