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TULSA, Okla. -- Tulane football player Devon Walker's fractured spine was stabilized in a three-hour surgery Sunday, though it's too soon to tell whether he will be paralyzed from the injury he suffered while making a tackle, the team's doctor said.

Dr. Greg Stewart, Tulane University's director of sports medicine, said Walker was in stable condition and was expected to stay in the intensive care until of St. Francis Hospital in Tulsa for the next few days.

"These kind of injuries take 24, 48, sometimes 72 hours to fully declare themselves," Stewart said before the surgery. "We don't know what the long-term implications and outcomes are going to be."

Stewart said he was with Walker on the field, in the ambulance and at the hospital on Saturday. He said Walker was put into a cervical collar and couldn't see much of what was happening, so Stewart explained what was going on. Walker was talking with doctors as he was being treated, Stewart said.

[Coverage from NOLA.com]

Walker's parents had traveled to Oklahoma to be with their son, and they were "doing as well as can be expected," Stewart said.

"They're like the rest of us -- hopeful and prayerful."

Stewart was back in New Orleans on Sunday, as were Walker's teammates. He said Tulane's athletic director and the football team's trainer remained in Oklahoma with Walker.

Walker's injury occurred on the final play of the first half, hours after Tulane opened the Conference USA portion of its schedule against Tulsa. Tulsa was leading 35-3 and facing a fourth-and-2 with the ball at the 33-yard line on Saturday when the Golden Hurricane called timeout. Tulane then called timeout.

When play resumed, Tulsa quarterback Cody Green tossed a short pass to Willie Carter, who caught it at about the 28, and turned upfield. He was tackled around the 17-yard line, with defensive tackle Julius Warmsley and Walker sandwiching him and apparently smashing their helmets together.

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Tulane player Devon Walker's fractured spine stabilized; no word on paralysis