Tulane received some bad injury news as it ended the second week of preseason camp.
Freddy Canteen, the talented graduate transfer wide receiver whose chronically bad shoulder ended separate seasone at Michigan and Notre Dame, is done for the year and probably his career with yet another shoulder injury. Coach Willie Fritz said Canteen dove for a ball in practice late last week and landed on his shoulder.
"We've lost him for the year," Fritz said. "It's unfortunate. He was having a good camp, and he won't be playing this season. We'll see what he can do. He may end up helping us coaching a little bit. We were hoping it (re-injuring the shoulder) wouldn't happen here, but unfortunately it did. He's a good, young man. I feel sorry for him. He was diving for a ball. It was nothing you don't do a hundred times a week with different guys on the team. That's the only bad thing about this game."
At Michigan, Canteen missed six games in 2015 and all of 2016 due to a shoulder injury. Looking for a fresh start at Notre Dame as a grad transfer last season, he went down with a torn labrum after three games.
Reboot No. 2 at Tulane got off to a fast start. He practiced with the first team for much of his short time in camp, making a series of nice catches on opening day.
“I definitely feel good,” he said then. “This system is great for me. I’m just thanking God I will be able to showcase what I can do."
Now he can't. Although he mentioned the possibility of getting a medical hardship for his lost season at Notre Dame and a sixth year of eligibility in 2018 when he arrived, the chronic nature of his shoulder injuries makes that outcome unlikely.
"I'm not sure," Fritz said. "That's going to be up to him. I talked to him the other day and laid everything out to him and his mother. She happened to be in town for business. We want to help him with whatever decision he makes. It's just tough when a guy sets goals and something like this happens. Unfortunately it's life. It's adversity. You've got to see how you respond to adversity. It may start another phase in his life. He's got to figure out what that's going to be."
Canteen is not the only Tulane receiver done for the year. Redshirt freshman Kevin LeDee suffered a serious left knee injury last week, will have surgery in the next few days and will spend the season recuperating. LeDee has flashed some potential in practice and was competing for playing time after redshirting in 2017.
"We had more depth at receiver entering the year, but now we're a little bit back," Fritz said. "We have a few more guys, but everybody is a little older and smarter. We've got some of these young guys that we think can step up and play for us this year, too."
Six scholarship wide receivers did not practice Monday, including 2017 starter Jabril Clewis, junior D.J. Owens and true freshmen Sorrell Brown and Jorrien Vallien None of their injuries appear serious, and Fritz said Clewis would be back "in a couple of days hopefully."
When the receivers went through an individual drill, the remaining scholarship guys were Terren Encalade, Darnell Mooney, Jaetavian Toles, Brian Newman, Jacob Robertson. True freshman running back Ygenio Booker was part of that group, too, so they may be moving him to wideout because of the incredible depth at his normal position.
With Canteen gone, the onus is on Clewis to improve. He made a few nice plays last season but not enough for a physical 6-foot-2, 210-pound guy who started seven times, catching 16 passes for 174 yards and zero touchdowns with a long gain of 25 yards.
"He's a bigger guy," Fritz said. "He'd kind of been out for a year in there, played a year of juco (at Grossmont College in California), and this is no slam on junior college--I'm an old juco coach--but there's a big difference between Division I football and junior college football. You have to pick it up. That first year is almost like a high school guy coming in because is about five times the size of the playbook (in junior college), but not just the playbook but what the other team does and the adjustments and in-game changes that you make."
From spring until now, Newman, who was awarded a scholarship just before the start of preseason camp, has made as many plays as anyone not named Encalade or Mooney at the position. He will have a role this year, but how large is still to be determined.
"He's going to play for us, but right now I don't know how much," Fritz said. "He can play anywhere from five to 50 snaps. We'll see. There's a bunch of those guys jockeying for position."
Robertson, a touted recruit, caught six passes in the last three games a year ago as a redshirt freshman, but he finished with only 81 yards on 11 receptions. He could be the third guy, too. Toles, a true sophomore, played in eight games last season and caught one pass, but the coaches like his ability.
"Jacob's got to get healthy," Fritz said. "He could play a lot out there but he's had a little trouble staying healthy. Jaetavian played quite a bit last year as a true freshman. We think he is one of the more explosive guys on our team."
In other injury news that could be huge or insignificant, sophomore defensive end Cameron Sample went down with a knee issue early in practice before I arrived. He was watching practice with a bandage on his left knee when I got there. That's usually a good sign when a player can stay on the sideline rather than going to the training room, but the severity of knee injuries can be tricky to tell at first glance. There will be an update on him after tomorrow's practice.
I will have the rest of the report in a little while.
Freddy Canteen, the talented graduate transfer wide receiver whose chronically bad shoulder ended separate seasone at Michigan and Notre Dame, is done for the year and probably his career with yet another shoulder injury. Coach Willie Fritz said Canteen dove for a ball in practice late last week and landed on his shoulder.
"We've lost him for the year," Fritz said. "It's unfortunate. He was having a good camp, and he won't be playing this season. We'll see what he can do. He may end up helping us coaching a little bit. We were hoping it (re-injuring the shoulder) wouldn't happen here, but unfortunately it did. He's a good, young man. I feel sorry for him. He was diving for a ball. It was nothing you don't do a hundred times a week with different guys on the team. That's the only bad thing about this game."
At Michigan, Canteen missed six games in 2015 and all of 2016 due to a shoulder injury. Looking for a fresh start at Notre Dame as a grad transfer last season, he went down with a torn labrum after three games.
Reboot No. 2 at Tulane got off to a fast start. He practiced with the first team for much of his short time in camp, making a series of nice catches on opening day.
“I definitely feel good,” he said then. “This system is great for me. I’m just thanking God I will be able to showcase what I can do."
Now he can't. Although he mentioned the possibility of getting a medical hardship for his lost season at Notre Dame and a sixth year of eligibility in 2018 when he arrived, the chronic nature of his shoulder injuries makes that outcome unlikely.
"I'm not sure," Fritz said. "That's going to be up to him. I talked to him the other day and laid everything out to him and his mother. She happened to be in town for business. We want to help him with whatever decision he makes. It's just tough when a guy sets goals and something like this happens. Unfortunately it's life. It's adversity. You've got to see how you respond to adversity. It may start another phase in his life. He's got to figure out what that's going to be."
Canteen is not the only Tulane receiver done for the year. Redshirt freshman Kevin LeDee suffered a serious left knee injury last week, will have surgery in the next few days and will spend the season recuperating. LeDee has flashed some potential in practice and was competing for playing time after redshirting in 2017.
"We had more depth at receiver entering the year, but now we're a little bit back," Fritz said. "We have a few more guys, but everybody is a little older and smarter. We've got some of these young guys that we think can step up and play for us this year, too."
Six scholarship wide receivers did not practice Monday, including 2017 starter Jabril Clewis, junior D.J. Owens and true freshmen Sorrell Brown and Jorrien Vallien None of their injuries appear serious, and Fritz said Clewis would be back "in a couple of days hopefully."
When the receivers went through an individual drill, the remaining scholarship guys were Terren Encalade, Darnell Mooney, Jaetavian Toles, Brian Newman, Jacob Robertson. True freshman running back Ygenio Booker was part of that group, too, so they may be moving him to wideout because of the incredible depth at his normal position.
With Canteen gone, the onus is on Clewis to improve. He made a few nice plays last season but not enough for a physical 6-foot-2, 210-pound guy who started seven times, catching 16 passes for 174 yards and zero touchdowns with a long gain of 25 yards.
"He's a bigger guy," Fritz said. "He'd kind of been out for a year in there, played a year of juco (at Grossmont College in California), and this is no slam on junior college--I'm an old juco coach--but there's a big difference between Division I football and junior college football. You have to pick it up. That first year is almost like a high school guy coming in because is about five times the size of the playbook (in junior college), but not just the playbook but what the other team does and the adjustments and in-game changes that you make."
From spring until now, Newman, who was awarded a scholarship just before the start of preseason camp, has made as many plays as anyone not named Encalade or Mooney at the position. He will have a role this year, but how large is still to be determined.
"He's going to play for us, but right now I don't know how much," Fritz said. "He can play anywhere from five to 50 snaps. We'll see. There's a bunch of those guys jockeying for position."
Robertson, a touted recruit, caught six passes in the last three games a year ago as a redshirt freshman, but he finished with only 81 yards on 11 receptions. He could be the third guy, too. Toles, a true sophomore, played in eight games last season and caught one pass, but the coaches like his ability.
"Jacob's got to get healthy," Fritz said. "He could play a lot out there but he's had a little trouble staying healthy. Jaetavian played quite a bit last year as a true freshman. We think he is one of the more explosive guys on our team."
In other injury news that could be huge or insignificant, sophomore defensive end Cameron Sample went down with a knee issue early in practice before I arrived. He was watching practice with a bandage on his left knee when I got there. That's usually a good sign when a player can stay on the sideline rather than going to the training room, but the severity of knee injuries can be tricky to tell at first glance. There will be an update on him after tomorrow's practice.
I will have the rest of the report in a little while.
