Riley Leonard, the star quarterback of Duke Blue Devils, is one of the best quarterbacks in the country. He has an amazing career record and fans love him a lot. However, the 2023 football season has been unlucky and painful for Riley Leonard.
He has been injured twice and has been benched. Is he going to make a return this week and play against Louisville or not? In this blog, we’ll give all the possible updates regarding Riley Leonard’s recent injury.
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What happened to Riley Leonard
Riley Leonard, the quarterback for the Duke Blue Devils, suffered a high ankle sprain on September 30, 2023, in a loss to Notre Dame. He returned to action on October 22, 2023, against Florida State, but re-injured his ankle in the third quarter. He’s been benched since then and is still under a strict recovery program.
Recovery Timeline
The usual timeframe for healing an ankle sprain is around 4-6 weeks. However, given that Leonard has re-injured his ankle it’s possible that his recovery period might be extended.
According to Duke coach Mike Elko’s statement on October 27, 2023, Leonard is showing ” signs” in terms of recovery. Still has a “considerable distance” to go before he can make a comeback, on the field.
Riley Leonard’s Latest Injury Updates
Riley Leonard seems to be, on a path toward recovery from his ankle sprain, which he aggravated on October 22, 2023. As per coach Mike Elko from Duke Leonards healing progress is being monitored daily. It will still take weeks before he can make a comeback, to the field.
Elko mentioned that Leonard has been moving around well and actively participating in team drills. Nevertheless, the coaching staff intends to exercise caution when deciding on Leonard’s return to play.
“We’re not going to rush him back,” Elko said. “We want to make sure he’s 100% before he gets back on the field.”
Impact on the Duke’s
Duke will face a challenge without Leonard, who is known for his skills, as both a passer and a runner. He has had a season so far with 1,542 passing yards and 12 touchdowns along, with 344 rushing yards and four touchdowns. In Leonard’s absence, Duke will probably rely on quarterback Henry Belin IV to take over. Although Belin has only thrown for 34 yards this season he has shown proficiency in running the ball.
Twitter Fan Reactions Over Riley Leonard Injury
Twitter (X) has been in rage ever since Riley got “re-injurer”. Fans said it was not the right choice to put him back on the field when he hadn’t recovered completely. Other than that fans of FSU and DBD have been constantly debating.
DBD fans believe if Riley wasn’t injured the Duke’s would’ve won the match. However, FSU fans claimed that his injury didn’t play any role because FSU was already ahead from the start. It’s pretty much clear that Riley won’t be playing in the next match. But the heat between the fans of these two teams isn’t going to cool down anytime soon.
Conclusion
It is for sure that Riley won’t be able to play this week. He hasn’t healed completely and Duke won’t take any risk anymore with his healing process. Riley probably won’t be able to play for the next 4-5 weeks and Duke will be in a tough position without him.
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