It’s
hard to believe, but we’re less than two weeks away from opening day
against Navy. It’s the day East Carolina has worked so hard to
prepare for, and now they’re starting to show it.
The injuries are starting to add up for the Pirate program. The
question now is will the Pirates be healthy enough on September 2nd?
Following the team’s second intra-squad scrimmage of fall camp,
redshirt freshman defensive end Scotty Robinson became the latest to
reluctantly add his name to a growing list of team casualties.
Robinson suffered an apparent knee injury, with tests to determine the
severity coming soon. Right now he is listed as day to day.
If it was just Robinson, that would be one thing. However, as
camp
progresses the list continues to grow. Some injuries are to be
expected, but if Robinson’s injury proves to be serious he would become
the third projected starter to be scratched from that list before the
start of the season.
The Pirates are officially beaten up at the defensive end and
linebacker positions. Marcus Hands is back following a shoulder
injury last year, but that’s about the only good news. ECU has
lost starting defensive end Shauntae Hunt, likely for at least the
first
half of the season, and now we await the word on Robinson.
The injury troubles at linebacker are well documented. Four guys
with starts in 2005 graduated, leaving gaping holes for linebacker
coach Rock Roggeman to fill. Then recently we heard the news that
Orlando Farrow was injured, likely for the season, leaving Roggeman
with even less spackle with which to fill those holes. That loss
prompted the coaching staff to move redshirt freshman Van Eskridge
from safety to linebacker.
On a more positive note, Roggeman has been impressed with how some
young players have stepped up. “The progress of the group has
been good. We’re force feeding them, throwing a lot at them and
making them learn fast because that’s what they will have to do during
the season.” Coach Roggeman also mentioned that the loss of
Farrow only presents an opportunity for someone else. “Losing Farrow is
a big loss, but we’ve got to move on, hey it opens up the door for
someone else and we’ve got to step up.”
Eric Graham, Bobby Good, and Jamar Flournoy, are some of the other more
high-profile names to miss days of practice this fall. All have
since returned to practice and are expected to be ready to go come
September 2nd. With the injuries piling up East Carolina is
just hoping to keep its latest version of the depth chart intact
before opening day.
