Miami Hurricanes TE Michael Irvin II to Miss Significant Time With a Knee Injury

The Hurricanes have been back on the field for less than a week. Despite their limited time on the field, the team suffered its first major injury of the season. Michael Irvin II, Miami’s most experienced tight end, suffered a reported MCL injury in his right knee that required a surgery to repair. Irvin underwent surgery Wednesday morning to repair the injury. The timeline for recovery is expected to take up to four months.

This likely ends Irvin’s season before it even begins. In 2017, the St. Thomas Aquinas High alum hauled in nine receptions for 78 receiving yards, with an average of 8.6 yards per catch. Entering training camp, Irvin was set to compete for the starting spot at TE. In his absence, TE Brian Polendey, who spent much of 2017 working on special teams, becomes the veteran of the tight end group.

TE Coach Todd Hartley spoke about the impact of the injury and what it means for the offense going forward.

Time for the Freshman to Feast

Eric Espada/UM Athletics

With Irvin set to miss a significant portion of the season, now is the time to shine for Miami’s two freshmen additions. TE Brevin Jordan and TE Will Mallory were likely to receive a feature role on offense in 2018. With the injury, both should be fixtures as UM hopes to work out of more two tight end sets. The Canes may lack in the experience department at TE, yet they have the group is filled with loads of potential. However, now that grace period to get acclimated to the college game has dwindled significantly.

Miami can ill afford to lose another player at this position, which would forced the Canes to once again get creative with the roster. Combined with the graduation of Christopher Herndon, Miami has no other choice but to rely on the young guys to produce immediately. Coach Hartley has let it be known that the team doesn’t expect to add anyone else to the group. So for now, we won’t see any positions switches to replenish depth at TE.

UM will have fulfilled the NCAA’s 5-day acclimation rule after Wednesday’s practice. For those unfamiliar, it’s the rule where teams are not allowed have full padded practices until after five days of practice without full pads. Miami is set to have their first scrimmage this coming Saturday to help solidify the depth chart before the start of the season.

The loss of Irvin, who was most knowledgeable of Mark Richt’s offense as anyone at the position, will be missed this season. Sadly, this is a part of the game that few like to dwell on. State of the U wishes a speedy and complete recovery for Irvin.

With injury comes opportunity, and for the rest of Miami’s TEs, this is their shot to grab the mantle of being the starting tight at the U!

IT’S ALWAYS ABOUT THE U!