Running back Markey has stress fracture in right foot

Senior Chris Markey, UCLA’s leading rusher last season, is out indefinitely after X-rays revealed a stress fracture in his right foot.

Markey was in a jersey and shorts Friday for spring practice but hobbled around with a restrictive boot on his foot. He was unsure how long he would be out, as results of an MRI exam were pending.

“I went up and caught a pass yesterday and came down on my foot,” said Markey, who gained 1,107 yards last season as a junior. “I took a couple steps and started limping.

“It looks like something that has been there for a while, and I must have aggravated it when I landed.”

The injury leaves UCLA with two experienced tailbacks, junior Kahlil Bell and senior Derrick Williams, for probably the rest of the spring. Bell gained 239 yards last season, 102 in a game against Rice, before being suspended the final two games for an unspecified violation of team rules. Williams gained 96 yards.

“In all likelihood, he is not going to participate in spring,” Coach Karl Dorrell said of Markey. “Any kind of stress fracture, it takes at least three to four weeks to heal. That’ll be all of spring practice.”

As to how severe the fracture might be, Dorrell said, “that’s what they are trying to determine.”

Markey said that he felt pain in his foot last season but attributed it to “my flat feet or my cleats.”

If Markey misses spring practice, it will rob him of time learning the new offensive scheme under first-year offensive coordinator Jay Norvell.

“I have never missed anything before,” Markey said. “This is going to be my senior year, and I wanted to show the new coaches what I could do. It’s unfortunate. But it is better now than later.”

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chris.foster@latimes.com