The bright side, the way Syracuse head Scott Shafer looks at it, is that injuries provide learning opportunities for players.

Only SU’s players have faced far too many than Shafer would like. And recent wounds to nose tackles John Raymon and Wayne Williams not only hurt the Orange (3-6, 1-4 Atlantic Coast) in the middle of the defensive line, but sting the heart of their head coach, too.

“Both of them have come a long way and you’re disappointed when a young man gets hurt and you feel for him,” Shafer said during the ACC coaches’ teleconference Wednesday morning. “But you also understand that’s a part of this game, unfortunately.”

Shafer pointed to SU’s weekly Thursday night injury report regarding Raymon’s and Williams’ status for Saturday’s game against Duke.

Raymon tore his ACL last year and was not expected by many to recover in time for this season, but did. But during the Orange’s 24-17 loss to North Carolina State on Saturday, the junior had to be helped off the field in the second quarter and did not return.

The road that Williams, a junior college transfer, took to reach the field for Syracuse was tumultuous in its own way. He originally signed to be part of the Class of 2013 but didn’t enroll at SU until January, then trimmed down about 40 pounds as he learned to play team football.

He’s been out the last three games with a lower-body injury.

“I’ve seen a lot of growth out of Johnny in dealing with his injury last year and combating through some very difficult times and becoming a stronger young man,” Shafer said. “… Wayne went through a lot just to get here and he was just starting to come on and play pretty well for us and we were excited about his progress. And then he gets nicked up…

“Losing a game is one thing, but losing an opportunity to play the game is the other that we’ve been dealing with far too often. But I feel good about the way the kids are fighting through the process.”

Near the end of his 10-minute segment of the teleconference, Shafer was asked about quarterback Terrel Hunt’s progress and said nothing’s changed with the quarterback’s recovery.

He added that Hunt’s been making progress in his pursuit of a master’s degree since he is set to complete his undergraduate degree “real soon.”

“As far as the injury goes, it’s just going to be day by day, week by week,” Shafer said. “We’ll take it at that speed.”

Published on November 5, 2014 at 12:23 pm

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