Safety Hall sidelined with knee injury
CORAL GABLES — As the Miami Hurricanes continue fighting through depth issues at several positions, they learned this week one more player will be out for the remainder of spring practice.
Gurvan Hall, a former standout at Palm Beach Gardens, injured his knee this week and is expected to be sidelined for 4-6 weeks, Miami coach Mark Richt said Saturday after the Hurricanes wrapped up their sixth workout of the spring.
Richt added he doesn’t expect Hall will need surgery, but his absence will be noticed, particularly with Miami struggling to run through some drills because its full roster isn’t completed yet.
Hall, an early enrollee, was expected to challenge for playing time at safety, joining fellow Palm Beach Gardens alum Amari Carter.
“From Day One, he would be on the left hash and we threw a ball to the right sideline and he tracked it down and got there when the ball landed,” Richt said of Hall’s ability to make plays immediately after arriving on campus. “I was like, ‘Who is that guy?’”
Hall is the second Hurricane to get hurt in spring camp, with linebacker Zach McCloud nursing a wrist injury. Other players — including defensive end Demetrius Jackson, receiver Ahmmon Richards and receiver Evidence Njoku — continue rehabbing from injuries they suffered last season.
Both Jackson and Richards are expected to be fullgo once training camp begins. On Saturday, Richt said he was optimistic the same would apply for Njoku, though that’s still unknown.
“He’s rehabbing well. He’s not going to be able to do anything now, but we believe in-season he’ll be able to,” Richt said of Njoku, who suffered a knee injury in October. “The key is going to be how early in the summer he’s going to be able to do everything. I’m not even sure of that date, yet.”
While Evidence Njoku may not be able to run drills now, his older brother David — a former Hurricanes tight end and firstround pick of the Cleveland Browns — can, and did exactly that Saturday.
David Njoku, who has been a regular at Miami practices this spring and attended UM’s pro day on Wednesday, was dressed in street clothes Saturday, but put on some gloves and along with current tight ends Michael Irvin and Brian Polendey, caught passes from the Hurricanes quarterbacks during the early part of practice.
His participation later elicited a smile from Richt.
“He ran a couple routes there. It was fun,” Richt said. “He was out there in individuals. It was fun to give him a hard time and get to coach him one more time.”
Though Navaughn Donaldson was a Freshman AllAmerican last season after starting nine games at right guard, Hayden Mahoney was working with the first unit during the media-viewing portion of Saturday’s practice.
Mahoney, a redshirt junior, later earned praise from Richt.
“He’s a veteran. He knows what to do. He knows the calls. He can play guard. He can play center. He can play either guard, really, and if you threw him at tackle, he’d know what to do, too. He’s doing a really nice job for us,” Richt said. “We are using a lot of different combinations. We want him to be competing for a starting job and if he’s in the top five, he’ll start. That’s just how it is and he certainly knows what to do and he’s tough and he’s going to help us.”
ccabrera@sun-sentinel .com, Twitter @ChristyChirinos