Broken Rib Certainly No Laughing Matter : UCLA: LaChapelle can’t take a deep breath, but receiver says that he still hopes to play against Stanford on Saturday.

UCLA wide receiver Sean LaChapelle was able to laugh it off when he accidentally shot himself in the leg last year. But laughing was too painful for LaChapelle after he suffered a cracked rib during last Saturday’s 23-3 defeat at Arizona.

“The bullet wound was numb, but this was painful because I couldn’t breathe, and when you can’t breathe, it seems like you’re dying,” LaChapelle said. “Right now, I still can’t take a deep breath. It even hurts to laugh.”

Although LaChapelle said team doctors told him he probably will be sidelined for Saturday night’s game against No. 11 Stanford at the Rose Bowl, he hopes to play.

“The doctors basically said I’d be out this week and they said there’s a possibility I’d play next week, but they’re not the player and this is a big game for us,” LaChapelle said. “If I can get out and be close to 100%, I’ll do the best job I can to help the team.”

Coach Terry Donahue isn’t that optimistic.

“I expect that LaChapelle probably won’t play this week,” Donahue said. “He’s going to try, but if I had to make a guess, I suspect that he probably will not.”

LaChapelle could be risking serious injury by playing.

“My rib is about an eighth of an inch from being totally separated,” LaChapelle said. “If I take one more shot there, because it’s in the back part of my back, it could go into my lung. So I need to be careful.”

LaChapelle said he is willing to take a painkilling injection to play.

“If it boils down to that, I’ll do that. But right now I’m going to get winded going out there and if I can’t take a deep breath, I’m really not good,” he said.

“There’s other players on the team who can get the job done. I’m going to give it my best shot. If it comes down to just playing with pain, I’m playing. But I don’t know how much I’ll be able to do.”

LaChapelle was injured when an Arizona player accidentally kneed him in the back.

UCLA’s all-time leading receiver, LaChapelle had planned to forgo his final season of eligibility to go through the NFL draft, along with Bruin quarterback Tommy Maddox, but changed his mind at the last moment after he was assured that the Bruins would find a replacement for Maddox.

But after Wayne Cook, Maddox’s replacement, suffered a season-ending knee injury during the Bruins’ season-opening victory over Cal State Fullerton, Rob Walker, a redshirt freshman, was thrust into the lineup.

Although the injury and the Walker’s inexperience might cause LaChapelle’s receptions to decline from last season, which could hurt his market value, LaChapelle says he has no regrets about staying.

“I can’t think about that,” he said. “I made my decision to stay, and I made it knowing that our quarterback position was very unstable. I can’t look back and say, ‘My gosh, I should have left. Tommy’s not here, I’d better call him up and wish hateful things on him.’ ”

LaChapelle said he took out an insurance policy to cover him in case of a career-ending injury, but would not disclose the amount.

“I don’t want to talk about insurance for myself because I don’t want to jinx myself,” he said.

The Bruins lost linebacker Arnold Ale, their best defensive player, for the season because of a broken right leg.

“When you lose Arnold Ale you lose the emotional leader of your defensive team,” Donahue said. “When you lose a Sean LaChapelle and an Arnold Ale, you’re losing your best offensive and defensive players.

“Our defensive leadership has got to come from a lot of different players now. Hopefully, someone else will come forward and take up the slack.

“I’m not going to try and fool our players. They know what Arnold Ale meant to our team in terms of our pass rush and leadership. (But) there’s no point in trying to think that the season’s over because Arnold Ale’s not going to be with us.”