Injuries Dog Offensive Line Throughout Spring
April 4, 2005 More than a dozen Tar Heels have been dogged with injuries this spring. The offensive line has been particularly hard hit. Byron Bishop (back), Calvin Darity (foot) and Scott Lenahan (knee and wrist) missed most or all of spring practice. Steven Bell (leg injury dating back to the Continental Tire Bowl) returned to the field the second week. John Bunting has concerns about the long-term futures of Bishop, Darity and Lenahan. "Only time will tell with those guys," Bunting says. "We were counting on all three contributing this spring. We expect the offensive line to once again be the strength of our team. I'm certainly happy we've recruited some good players at that position, but you cannot count on freshmen to help on the offensive line." Quarterback Cameron Sexton, a high-school senior last fall who graduated early and entered Carolina in January, was having a good spring until he broke an ankle in a freak injury in a scrimmage the last week of practice. Sexton used his excellent speed to outrace the defense 25 yards for a touchdown. But in trying to apply the brakes after crossing the goal line and running out-of-bounds, he skidded on the wet grass and suffered an awkward fall into the shrubbery in the corner of the end zone. His recovery will take several months. "Cameron's made good progress," Bunting says. "He's a great athlete, has good arm strength, is a very smart guy. He has a great future here. I see him as a premier quarterback in this program at some point." Other breaks, strains, bumps and bruises included: WR Jarwarski Pollock (ribs, missed last three weeks); DE Tommy Davis (foot surgery, out all spring); DT Xavier Rainey (broken leg the first week); DE Joe Kedra (three weeks out with torn meniscus); CB Cedric Holt (two weeks out with wrist surgery); safety Trimane Goddard (out last week with a hamstring pull); DE Hilee Taylor (out last week with a sprained knee); safety D.J. Walker (out last week with groin injury). *** SQUIB KICKS - The Blue squad won an intra-squad scrimmage 17-13 Saturday to complete spring practice. The teams were evenly divided by a draft of players. The offenses were not particularly effective, but don't read too much into that. The staff kept both sides of the ball fairly vanilla, but the offense was bland in particular. The offenses played only one personnel group--two backs and one tight end--throughout the afternoon. The lines were split instead of the first team playing together has it had all spring--LT Brian Chacos, LG Charlston Gray, C Ben Lemming, RG Kyle Ralph and RT Kendall High. And two receivers were in St. Louis with the basketball Tar Heels--Jesse Holley and Brooks Foster.
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