After COVID-19 layoff, ’Canes ready for action

The down time for the Miami Hurricanes is behind them.

Their layoff of team workouts has been behind them for a week, and they’ve held true practices since Monday ahead of the Saturday night game at Duke.

“I’ve been playing a lot of ‘Call of Duty: Zombies,’ I’ll tell you that much,” redshirt junior defensive end Jaelan Phillips said of what consumed his time during the two weeks Miami spent away to allow a COVID-19 outbreak to dissipate.

The Hurricanes have eased back into a routine to assure they don’t look like zombies when they take the field again. With that comes the challenges of slowly getting players back from quarantine periods due to positive coronavirus cases or contact tracing — and then having different timetables for how much those players can do in practice.

“Everyone [out of quarantine] is practicing, [but] not everybody’s practicing full speed,” UM coach Manny Diaz said on Wednesday evening after a later-than-usual practice as the university is also in the midst of final exams. “We’ve been picking up maybe five players a day that have been granted access to be able to play full speed.

“And then everybody else is just getting their reps in more of a walk-through/jog-through type [of ] environment.

“I don’t think there’s one [position] group that’s been more affected than the other. … I think we’ve had two really good practices. The players have come back with a really good attitude. They’re eager to work.”

Diaz noted some players may even be on a “pitch count” Saturday, limited in how many game reps they can handle.

Quarterback D’Eriq King will have to reestablish the momentum he built with his receivers over the three games before the hiatus.

“For those two weeks, it was tough,” King said. “It was tough to get together because guys were quarantined here and there. We might’ve had one or two guys out there that were free, but as soon as we got cleared, we came back in the building. We had a week of just workouts and, after workouts, me, the receivers, the tight ends, the running backs, threw every single day.

“That kind of got us back on the right foot, and practice has been good. I think everything has been connected.”

Said senior receiver Michael Harley: “That was just a bump in the road, and we get the opportunity to finally come out, have fun, practice and prep for Duke. … I really don’t see it as a stoppage. I see it as another bump in the road. [so] just keep going.”

Star junior tight end Brevin Jordan played for the first time since Oct. 10 at Clemson last time the Hurricanes played on Nov. 14 at Virginia Tech, albeit in a limited role. Diaz is looking forward to seeing him return to form after seeing how Jordan has looked in practice.

“It was exciting watching him in practice [Wednesday],” Diaz said. “I think he’s got a renewed spirit. I think that just adds another weapon for D’Eriq, gives defenses another issue to worry about.”

Phillips, aside from killing virtual zombies, did workouts at his apartment gym while away from team facilities.

“As soon as it opened back up, I was the first one back in here,” he said. “I love lifting.”

With the layoff behind them, Miami hopes to shed rust as much as possible Saturday to kick-start the final three-game stretch of the regular season before potentially landing in a high-end bowl game.

“It’s definitely tough,” Phillips said. “If you combine the two weeks we’ve been off plus the bye weeks that we got off, we’ve just had a ton of down time during the season.

“This kind of down time has just made us hungrier, and we’re just ready to finish the season off the best that we can.”