Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Diaz: 15 to miss spring game
Miami Hurricanes coach Manny Diaz relayed to reporters a list of 15 players who will miss Saturday’s spring game due to injury after his team wrapped up Thursday’s final spring practice.
He broke it down into three categories: players who won’t be able to play Saturday but are expected back for workouts early in the summer; players who should return by midsummer; and players who will be held out until fall camp in August or close to the opener against Alabama on Sept. 4.
Those who should be cleared by early summer are safety Bubba Bolden (toe), linebacker Sam Brooks (toe), tight end Will Mallory (shoulder), wide receiver Jeremiah Payton (meniscus) and offensive lineman Cleveland Reed (pectoral).
Brooks missed most of the spring, as did Payton, who was able to get some seven-on-seven work done toward the end of the session after his knee was operated on in December. Mallory, along with defensive tackle Nesta Silvera, was said to be out for spring since the start of the slate.
“Been disappointing, but we know we’ve got a player in Sam,” Diaz said of Brooks. “We look forward to getting him back, and our medical people think he’ll be fine in time for summer workouts.”
Expected back midsummer are tight end Elijah Arroyo (knee), cornerback Al Blades Jr. (stress fracture), cornerback Marcus Clarke ( jaw), cornerback Te’Cory Couch (neck), Silvera (shoulder) and safety Brian Balom (neck).
Arroyo’s injury has lingered since the end of his high school
career. Blades was limited to conditioning at the start of spring as he returns from his myocarditis diagnosis. Balom got into a car accident that aggravated an injury that dated to the bowl game in December.
Quarterback D’Eriq King is still expected to be on track to return for the start of training camp. Early enrollee offensive tackle Michael McLaughlin, recovering from a patellar injury, is also expected back around then.
Running back Donald Chaney Jr. and tight end Dominic Mammarelli, both with shoulder injuries, aren’t expected to be cleared until close to the opener. Diaz said Chaney’s shoulder has “kept popping in, kept popping out; that’s getting taken care of surgically.”
Defensive shuffling
The Hurricanes have experimented with playing safety Amari Carter at striker — UM’s safety-linebacker hybrid position in its base defense — and striker Keontra Smith at weak-side linebacker this spring.
“I think they’ve both done a great job with those,” said Diaz, with Smith playing a familiar position going back to high school. “Keontra at [weak-side linebacker], I think he’s looked at home there.
“He actually played that position at Chaminade quite a lot. He just feels very comfortable closer to the ball.
If Carter can rotate between safety and striker, it gives Diaz an extra layer of versatility he likes in his defense.
“We have a lot of versatile guys in our back seven and a lot of experienced guys,” Diaz said. “Being able to throw Amari closer to the ball, there’s some skill sets that he has. [Gilbert] Frierson can do some things. Frierson’s got a lot of skill at that position. Amari is a little different skill set in making calls from different things.
“When we get all of our guys back in the fall, I think [with] some of our versatility and the different looks we can provide an offense, we’ll be more diverse because of guys like that that can play different positions — not to mention our sub packages, nickel and dime.”
Said Frierson on Thursday of the two at their different positions: “A bunch of speed, guys that can move and understand the defense and understand the game. Both of them, they’re older guys. Being able to move around, learn the position with a little bit of time is amazing.”
O-line notes
Miami offensive line coach Garin Justice called competition at right tackle and left guard the two biggest position battles on the line this spring in a Wednesday morning interview with 560-AM. DJ Scaife and Jarrid Williams are competing at right tackle, while Jakai Clark and Jalen Rivers are working at left guard.
Rivers, the second-year lineman, started off at tackle for the Hurricanes, but Justice said he’s “probably more of a guard as far as what he can do.”
Noting his length and physicality, Justice added that Rivers is a high-character student of the game.
“You coach it, he’s going to do his best to do it,” Justice said. “He’s always going to have a good attitude. ‘Yes, sir; no, sir.’ ”
Justice said the return of right guard Navaughn Donaldson from his knee injury has been instrumental for the line, and Donaldson has been a leader on the unit.
“In boxing, there’s a reason they always have weight classes, and he’s in the heaviest weight class,” Justice said of the 6-6, 350-pound blocker. “I’m glad we have him.”
Justice said second-year tackle Issiah Walker is “progressing” but still needs to add on weight.