Cooper’s Injury “Nothing Serious” According to Shannon

By Danny Hobrock  |   Wednesday, August 19, 2009  |  Comments( 0 )

Miami Hurricanes
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Graig Cooper gave Miami fans a bit of a scare after missing practice on Tuesday with an ankle injury. The injury does not appear to be serious, however.

Initially, 'Canes fan feared the worst. No information was available through the sports media regarding the extent of the injury, most outlets calling it only a right leg injury. Cooper appeared wearing a boot on his right leg, leading fans to draw their own conclusions before Shannon spoke to reporters. "For sure, he'll be back for the first game," Shannon said. "It's nothing serious."

When and how the injury occurred seems to be a mystery even to the Hurricanes. "I don’t know when it happened. Don’t know where it came from. One of those freak deals," Shannon said.

Although Cooper led the Hurricanes in rushing for the past two seasons, he shares the backfield with fellow-senior running back Javarris James. However, with several young players on the team, the 'Canes are deep at the position. Sophomore Lee Chambers impressed in last year's Emerald Bowl against Cal, and freshmen Lamar Miller and Mike James are highly touted. Junior Damien Berry is also on the squad.

It is unclear when Cooper will return to practice. Shannon, however, looks at the injury as an opportunity to give other guys some reps. "That's why we've got Mike [James] and Javarris [James] and we've still got Damien Berry," Shannon said. "So you've got five guys still getting a lot of reps."

In other news, Hurricanes defensive end Adewale Ojomo underwent an undisclosed surgery following an injury suffered while he was "horsing around" with other players in the locker room on Sunday. Ojomo reportedly suffered a broken jaw in the incident. The senior is expected to miss the season opener against Florida State.

Shannon says Ojomo was not involved in a fight and brushed off the incident as an unfortunate result of big men messing around after practice. "Guys always get into that two-a-day swing when they want to just wrestle around and horse around and things happen like that. You’ve got to move on," Shannon said. He also cleared up rumors, claiming that Ojomo has not been suspended.
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