‘That’s tough on everyone’: Players rally around Blades after diagnosis
After having two games postponed because of COVID-19 cases within the program, the Miami Hurricanes have also felt the human toll of illness in the past week.
Al Blades Jr.’s season is over after team doctors diagnosed the cornerback with myocarditis while he was going through COVID protocols. Blades confirmed the diagnosis Tuesday on social media, announcing he would be out at least three months because of the heart condition, which can occur after contracting the virus.
“It hurts me not to be out there with my brothers,” Blades wrote on Twitter, “but I will always be a Hurricane.”
On Wednesday, teammates and coach Manny Diaz offered an outpouring of support for the sidelined junior.
“That’s tough on everyone, tough on the whole team,” striker Gilbert Frierson said. “It’s tough seeing his situation. We’re all just praying for him, and hoping for the best and better.”
Said defensive lineman Jaelan Phillips: “I feel horrible for him because
Al’s a guy who is one of those passionate leaders. When he steps in a room, you know he’s that guy. His energy is contagious, and he’s been an integral part of our team’s success in building the character that we have as a team over the last couple of years.”
Blades has been one of Miami’s leaders since his freshman year. An AllAmerican at Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas, Blades occasionally served as a game-day captain for the Hurricanes as a special teams player his freshman season, and he stepped into a part-time starting role at corner last year. This season, Blades started the first seven games before fellow cornerback Te’Cory Couch passed him on the depth chart ahead of Miami’s win against the Virginia Tech Hokies. Blades was not in uniform Saturday for the Hurricanes’ 48-0 win against the Duke Blue Devils.
Blades is the son of Al Blades, who was also famed for his leadership skills when he was an all-Big East Conference safety at Miami in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
“We’re just trying to support Al. You feel for him because of how much it means to him to be a Miami Hurricane and to be with our team, but this is why our medical people put the checks in place,” Diaz said. “It’s another reminder of the severity of coronavirus, so now we’re just doing anything we can to support him in his time and still try to have him be a part of our team, even though he’s not going to be able to play these last few games.
“You feel awful for him, but the only thing that is encouraging, from what the medical people say, is that he should expect to make a full recovery and get back and finish a great career with Miami.”
With Blades out Saturday, Couch once again started opposite fellow cornerback DJ Ivey and Isaiah Dunson played in nickel packages. Fellow freshman Marcus Clarke, who had an interception in the fourth quarter against Duke, is the Hurricanes’ only other scholarship cornerback.
HOWMANY RECRUITS CAN SIGN?
The start of the early signing period is just a week away and Diaz offered some clarity about where Miami’s numbers stand entering next Wednesday.
The Hurricanes will be able to sign 24 players in their Class of 2021, Diaz said, and he didn’t rule out the possibility Miami could fill up the recruiting class next week.
“We could sign 24. That’s something that depends on some last-minute decisionmaking,” Diaz said. “I’d say there’s a fair chance it happens. I don’t know. We’ll see.”
The Hurricanes already hold oral commitments from 20 players in the 2021 recruiting cycle, and nearly all of them have indicated they plan to sign this month. Miami is also favored to land four-star quarterback Jake Garcia, according to the 247Sports.com Crystal Ball, and a finalist for fourstar cornerbacks Damarius McGhee and Markevious
Brown. If they sign their already-committed prospects plus those three blue-chip recruits, then the Hurricanes will only have one spot left, potentially for newly offered three-star tackle Austin Barber.
NO UPDATE ON KNIGHTON, CLARK
Diaz did not provide an update on either Jaylan Knighton or Jakai Clark,
leaving the status of the underclassmen in question heading into Saturday’s game against the No. 20 North Carolina Tar Heels.
Knighton made his first career start at running back last Saturday, but left in the first quarter with an injury and did not return. Running back Cam’Ron Harris,
who started the first eight games of the season, took over and finished with 96 rushing yards in Durham.
Clark also started at his usual spot at left guard and left in the first quarter with an undisclosed injury. Fellow offensive lineman Navaughn Donaldson made his season debut in Clark’s place and played into the third quarter.
Donaldson, who tore the anterior cruciate ligament and medial collateral ligament in his right knee last year, could be an option to start Saturday, offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee
said. Offensive lineman Ousman Traore has also started two games at left guard this year.