CORAL GABLES — The Hurricanes may be without starting cornerback OJ Frederique Jr. for the near future.
Miami coach Mario Cristobal said Monday that Frederique suffered a “pretty significant” injury. He did not disclose the type of injury.
“He’ll be down for quite a while,” Cristobal said.
The cornerback suffered an apparent shoulder injury on the first drive of UM’s win over Stanford on Friday and did not return to the game.
Frederique was one of the Hurricanes’ most dependable defenders last year. He had 19 tackles and seven pass deflections last year, earning a 62.1 defensive grade and a 63 coverage grade from Pro Football Focus.
But Frederique, a St. Thomas Aquinas alumnus, has dealt with injuries in the past. He missed five games last season.
In Frederique’s absence, the Hurricanes turned to Damari Brown, Xavier Lucas and Ethan O’Connor to take the reins at outside cornerback. Lucas had two tackles and two pass breakups (68.1 coverage grade); O’Connor had no official stats and a 71 coverage grade; and Brown had no official stats with a 45.7 coverage grade.
“I think, obviously, OJ is a very talented player. Love having him,” defensive coordinator Corey Hetherman said. “But for us, I think we get a lot of really talented players and we’ll change things up, we’ll do different things, coverage-wise, we’ll [do] different things in different areas. But I think we’re going to continue to attack offenses the way we normally do, and I think we have a lot of really talented players on the team that [will step up] and fill the role.”
Miami’s cornerback depth will be tested in the early part of the season. Sophomore cornerback Ja’Boree Antoine also suffered a significant injury before the season, and Cristobal said he would not return until the latter part of the season.
“Ja’Boree’s going to be out for a little bit. He suffered an injury where we expect him back in the latter part of the season. Dylan Day will be back soon. His was a non-football-related illness, so if he doesn’t make it in time for [Thursday’s game against Florida A&M], he’ll be back in time for the next one.”
The Hurricanes have some younger players who could also step up to fill the void left by Frederique. Miami played 13 different defensive backs against Stanford as the Hurricanes rolled to a blowout.
“We played [Camdin] Portis a bunch. Brody [Jennings has] come along really well,” Cristobal said. “Ryan Mack, I think, is really playing better and better every single week; [a] guy we’re depending upon. You guys saw J.J. Dunnigan in there. Obviously, a very physical presence. A guy like a play zone, man coverage, and stick his face in there in the run game and play in the box as well. So a lot of guys played really, really well.”