But Morris had never encountered a Lisfranc joint injury until this year.
Now, he's seen three in the last five months.
Senior safety David Tafuna was the third BYU football player to suffer the rare season-ending foot injury when he prepared to plant on an attempted blitz during Wednesday afternoon's practice.
Tafuna tore the ligament in his right foot and caused a separation of the joint. He is scheduled for surgery this morning and will need nine months to a year of recovery.
The Lisfranc joint is named for Jacques Lisfranc, a field surgeon in Napoleon's army. The ligament was often injured when soldiers were thrown from their horses while having a foot caught in one of the stirrups.
BYU freshman linebacker Jadon Wagner and former BYU quarterback Cade Cooper, who left the program, were the first BYU players to suffer Lisfranc injuries when they went down in the spring.
Tafuna and Cooper completely tore the ligaments in the joint while Wagner's was slight sprain, according to Morris. Wagner re-aggravated his injury in fall camp, and is out for the season.
The sudden rash of Lisfranc injuries has put Morris on high alert.
He is trying to determine if BYU's problems are just a freak string of bad luck or if there is a common link among the injured.
He's looking at shoe types, foot types, field surfaces - anything to help decrease the risk of it happening again.
"There is not a lot out there to say this is why it happens other than the mechanism is just a real force flexion of the foot," Morris said. "We are trying to find something else. I e-mailed some colleagues around the country just to get input from them, and so far the responses back are similar to mine, 'Yeah. I think you are looking in the right place with foot type, shoes and those types of things.' "
Of more immediate concern to BYU's season is the hole Tafuna's departure leaves in the secondary.
Tafuna, who still has a redshirt season available, is the second starting safety out with a season-ending injury. Senior Dustin Gabriel has navicular stress fractures in both feet and is scheduled to have surgery today.
Senior Corby Hodgkiss will replace Tafuna as the starting KAT safety. The 5-foot-11, 206-pound Hodgkiss has appeared in 20 career games, including two starts as a sophomore.
"I am really excited about the opportunity," Hodgkiss said. "Ever since we started and I realized Dustin was not going to play, I set my mind that I was going to start. So I have been preparing that way. I am just ready for Arizona and just excited about the year and the position I am in."
As the team moves forward, Morris is looking back for clues to BYU's Lisfranc quandary.
"Hopefully we will become expert at preventing them or finding something that will help reduce the risk," he said. "I probably slept three or four hours last night wondering what to do and what to look at, because you hate to see this happen to one kid let alone two or three."
Quick hits
Coach Bronco Mendenhall surprised the players Thursday by giving them a day off from practice to watch a movie. After 13 minutes on the field, Mendenhall called the team over and told them about his plans. The players exploded into cheers, chest bumps and high-fives. "I don't think I've ever had a practice get canceled like this. I don't know what to do. I really don't know what to do right now. It's a shock," senior safety Quinn Gooch said. . . . BYU plans to honor former quarterbacks Gifford Nielsen and Ty Detmer during halftime of BYU's season opener against Arizona on Sept. 1 at LaVell Edwards Stadium by retiring the No. 14 jersey they both wore. . . . Nose tackle Russell Tialavea had surgery his knee on Tuesday and began rehabilitation Wednesday. . . . This morning's 10 a.m. practice is open to the public.
rpotkey@sltrib.com
