’Canes lose Irvin

Knee injury to keep tight end out for four months.

CORAL GABLES — Less than a full week into the new season, the Miami Hurricanes are already dealing with a significant injury to one of their veterans.

Tight end Michael Irvin II had knee surgery Wednesday and is expected to miss four months after suffering an MCL injury earlier this week, the school announced.

Irvin, a junior out of Fort Lauderdale’s St. Thomas Aquinas, is the son of Hurricanes legend Michael Irvin. He had been taking reps with the firststring offense and is the only tight end on the Hurricanes roster that had logged any kind of significant playing time at Miami or has made a catch in a college game.

“It’s tough to see a kid go down, it doesn’t matter who it is, but especially at your position,” Hurricanes tight ends coach Todd Hartley said Wednesday after Miami’s second practice without Irvin. “Michael was having a great camp. He had a great spring camp. He really, really had a great summer and I was really looking forward to seeing what he was going to do this fall.”

According to UM, Irvin “is expected to make a full recovery.” Hartley indicated that Irvin faces an expected three to four-month rehabilitation process that could have him back on the field sometime in late November.

Irvin, a three-star prospect out of high school, appeared in 12 games last year, starting three of them. He had nine catches for 78 yards. He made his first start in the Hurricanes’ regular-season finale at Pitts-

burgh and started in both the ACC Championship Game and the Orange Bowl after fellow tight end Chris Herndon was injured against the Panthers.

With Herndon in the NFL and Irvin out now, the Hurricanes will have to rely on a trio of youngsters, including sophomore Brian Polendey and highly-regarded freshmen Brevin Jordan and Will Mallory ahead of their Sept. 2 opener against LSU and beyond.

“You’re going out there with kids that you think are capable, but there’s no substitute for game experience. And then it kind of hurts you in practice a little bit from a rotation standpoint,” Hartley said. “Those young guys have to grow up. Now it’s sink or swim.”

Expectations are, though, those “young guys” will be up to the challenge.

Hartley noted that Polendey, who appeared in six games last season mostly on special teams, has done well during the opening days of camp. And Jordan and Mallory arrived at Miami this summer as two of the nation’s top tight end prospects.

Early in camp, both have impressed.

Jordan, rated the No. 1 tight end prospect in the nation by ESPN last year, had a career-high 1,111 yards and 13 touchdowns to help lead Las Vegas power Bishop Gorman to a ninth state championship.

Mallory, meanwhile, was rated the No. 3 tight end prospect in the nation by ESPN and had 46 catches for 900 yards and 12 touchdowns as a junior at Jacksonville Providence. He was hampered by injuries as a senior, but still received interest from the likes of Alabama, Georgia, Clemson, Auburn and Notre Dame, among others, before committing to Miami.

“We’ve only been through five [practices], so I don’t want to put anything on them without having a thorough evaluation yet, but through five practices, they’ve kind of exceeded expectations, to be honest,” Hartley said. “Brevin, specifically, he’s a kid that has unbelievable athleticism. You saw that in high school. You come out here and he’s just got stuff that you can’t coach. He runs routes well, he has a good understanding of how to beat press, how to understand coverages and reading leverage and getting in and out of breaks. He’s [an] extremely gifted routerunner. But he’s also, for a young kid, pretty good at the point of attack. …

“I didn’t really [know] what to expect from Mallory getting out here, [but] you know his body type and we knew what role we had for him, but man, that kid’s doing unbelievable as well. He’s really having a good camp and making a lot of plays and running and catching. The blocking stuff that we’ve put him in there with, he’s really done a nice job. Both of them just need to keep doing what they’re doing. They’re a long ways away, but they’re on track to be where they need to be.”

Their coach isn’t the only one heaping praise on the young tight ends.

Both sophomore wide receiver Mike Harley and running back DeeJay Dallas noted the two have made plays on the practice field and could be significant contributors for the offense moving forward.

“I like to call them the two-headed monster, Will Mallory and Brevin Jordan,” Dallas said. “They’ve been coming out every day and working hard, so they’re going to get their shot. May the best man win.”

Added Harley, “Brevin’s like a big body guy. He’s making the tough, contested 50-50 ball [plays]. … Will Mallory, he’s like a route runner. You get him in the slot, in space, but, I like both of them guys. They’re going to play this year and they’re definitely going to be ready this year.”

Irvin II