Thomas, Hightower out, undergo knee surgeries
CORAL GABLES — The Hurricanes have dealt with more than a few injuries this spring, which has forced coach Manny Diaz and his staff to get creative as Miami deals with depth issues at various positions.
Now, two more standouts have — and both are receivers.
Miami announced on Tuesday that Jeff Thomas and Brian Hightower underwent minor surgeries on their right knees after neither was spotted on the field during the media viewing portion of Tuesday’s practice.
That left Miami’s receivers group even thinner. Meanwhile, on the other side of the Carol Soffer Indoor Practice facility, defensive lineman Patrick Joyner Jr. was working with Miami’s linebackers, who have also been decimated by injuries. And offensive lineman Navaughn Donaldson, who has played both tackle and guard since arriving at Miami, lined up at center — again — while Corey Gaynor continues recovering from a knee injury of his own.
Diaz has said that most of the injuries the Hurricanes have dealt with this spring — from tight end Brevin Jordan’s knee to striker Zach McCloud’s wrist — aren’t serious, and most of the players are expected to be ready for the start of fall camp.
That doesn’t mean fielding team this spring has been easy.
“We’re bare-bone thin. We have a whole team of guys that are not practicing right now, thankfully nothing that’s too long-term, but, a lot of guys that are out for a short amount of time and so the guys that went today, they’re going a lot,” Diaz said after Saturday’s scrimmage. “You may or may not be noticing a lot of offensive linemen are pulling double duty. A lot of receivers and tight ends are pulling double duty. A lot of guys on the defensive side of the ball up front are pulling double duty. We’re
abeen
sidelined functioning shifting guys around.”
Joyner was the latest Hurricane to make such a shift. After playing four games on Miami’s defensive line last fall, he was working behind veteran linebackers Shaq Quarterman and Mike Pinckney on Tuesday, the Hurricanes’ third-to-last practice of the spring. Miami will return to practice Thursday before closing out spring drills with an open scrimmage Saturday at Camping World Stadium in Orlando.
Whether Joyner will remain at linebacker in the fall remains unknown, Diaz said Tuesday. Though McCloud is expected to be available in the fall, it’s uncertain whether Waynmon Steed (knee) will be ready then, as Miami has not given a timetable on his return. Fellow linebacker Bradley Jennings Jr., meanwhile, left last week’s scrimmage with what Diaz termed a groin injury.
But, whether Joyner returns to the defensive line or not, Diaz said Tuesday he’s confident the former four-star prospect out of South Dade High can be effective.
And his versatility is part of the reason Hurricanes wanted him in Coral Gables.
“With Joyner, we recruited him to do both. That was one of the things that he really liked about his opportunity to come here to Miami,” Diaz said. “We don’t know [if the move will be permanent]. That’ll probably depend on what we find out from, you know, in terms of who we have. Obviously getting Zach McCloud [back] will be a huge boost in the arm for the linebacker room and he’ll have the ability to play inside linebacker for us this year, probably featured at all three spots. It wouldn’t surprise me. But those will be decisions that we’ll make when we find out who we have. We do have some guys that have some positional flexibility on the team. … Like anything else, you can find the best way to deploy them.” the