Syracuse’s head coach gives injury updates and more prior to the Orange’s game against UNLV
Syracuse Orange football head coach Fran Brown gave injury updates and previewed the upcoming road game against UNLV in his weekly press conference today. The major injury updates that Brown gave were for Marlowe Wax and Justus Ross-Simmons. Brown also gave an update on Zeed Haynes’ availability.
Injury news
Wax is still recovering from his lower body injury that he suffered in Syracuse’s first game of the season against Ohio. The linebacker was spotted during the Holy Cross game without the walking boot he had been wearing for the past couple of weeks. Brown confirmed that Wax had been running in water and will move to ground running within the next couple of days. While unconfirmed, Wax is seemingly on track to hit the projected six-week recovery timeline, which would have him return for Syracuse’s game at Pitt at the end of the month.
Brown also confirmed that Ross-Simmons didn’t play against Holy Cross for health-related reasons, but that he’ll play at UNLV. Brown also confirmed that Haynes was still away from the team due to previously reported personal reasons.
“When Zeed’s gonna play, you’re gonna see No. 8 out there on the field running and doing everything the right way,” said Brown.
Chris Young
UNLV’s new QB
The big story right now surrounding UNLV is the quarterback change with original starter Matthew Sluka leaving the team due to reported NIL disputes. New starting QB Hajj-Malik Williams threw for 182 yards and three touchdowns while rushing for 119 yards and another touchdown.
“It’s a nightmare for the defensive coordinator and the head coach,” said Brown. “You think about it all week.”
It’s understandably a bit tougher to prepare for UNLV given that Syracuse only has one game of tape on Williams to prepare for his unique skillset. While Sluka was a great ground threat at quarterback, his arm wasn’t as strong. Williams already has thrown for more yards in a single game than Sluka had in the previous three. It’ll provide an interesting dynamic for Syracuse to prepare for as it seems Williams has the ability to beat the Orange defense in a variety of ways.
NIL promises
Naturally, with the storyline of Sluka’s departure from UNLV, the topic of NIL promises came up in Brown’s press conference. He addressed the issues by saying he encourages his players to always talk with him about their situations.
“There’s different reasons why players need NIL,” said Brown. “I don’t downplay any reason for that may want NIL.”