The Miami Hurricanes are grieving the team’s loss of junior cornerback Al Blades Jr. for the season after his Tuesday evening announcement of a myocarditis diagnosis — both because he’s someone that means a lot to the team and how thin UM now looks at cornerback.
Myocarditis is an inflammation of the heart and a potential complication from COVID-19. Miami coach Manny Diaz and players reacted to Tuesday’s shocking news after Wednesday’s practice.
“We’re just trying to support Al. Obviously, you feel for him because of how much it means for him to be a Miami Hurricane and to be with our team,” Diaz said of Blades, who is the son of the late former Miami safety by the same name and nephew of UM legends Bennie and Brian Blades. “It’s another reminder of the severity of coronavirus. Now, we’re just doing everything we can to support him in this time and try to have him be a part of our team, even though he’s not going to be able to play these last few games.”
Blades said in his Twitter announcement that the diagnosis will cause him to be out a minimum of three months, but that he’s “looking forward to returning to the field in 2021.”
“You feel awful for him, but what is encouraging, from what the medical people say, is that you should expect a full recovery and get back and finish a great career with Miami,” Diaz said.
Blades popped up as one of 15 players on Miami’s unavailability report for Saturday night’s 48-0 win at Duke. The team had spent the previous two weekends on a break from its schedule to allow a large COVID-19 outbreak to subside.
Blades, the Hurricanes’ only player with multiple interceptions this season, started UM’s first seven games, but sophomore Te’Cory Couch had supplanted him as a starter in the last game he played, the Nov. 14 win at Virginia Tech. Couch and junior DJ Ivey remained the starters on Saturday, and without Blades, freshman Isaiah Dunson came in on the boundary in nickel packages to allow Couch to cover the slot. Fellow freshman Marcus Clarke also played at the end of the game and intercepted a pass.
“It’s time for them to step up, and it’s really not all that dissimilar to what’s happened here in the past. I think of Trajan Bandy in November of his freshman year in 2017 — even Al Blades. Al Blades had to go in his freshman year against LSU as a nickel,” Diaz said. “Dunson played in our nickel package the entire game this past weekend and graded out [highly], but it was really important to see Marcus Clarke get in there.
“If there was any guy that was going to get an interception, it was going to be Marcus because his ball skills might be the best in our secondary.”
Added striker Gilbert Frierson: “We prepare the young guys, and we always tell them, ‘Practice as if you’re playing this week. You never know when it’s your time.'”
Those four, however, are the only scholarship cornerbacks left on UM’s roster. Sophomore Christian Williams started the season with the team but decided to enter into the NCAA’s transfer portal.
The bigger question is what happens if the Hurricanes lose any more cornerbacks.
“We have all kinds of contingency [plans],” Diaz said while not revealing them specifically. “We saw with Frierson going to safety in the Virginia game. We’ve already made those plans. We already have guys that can fill in if that was needed — not just if we have two corners on the field, but if we had three.”
Beyond Blades’ play, he is one of the players that teammates rally around most.
“Al’s a guy who’s one of those passionate leaders who, when he steps in the room, you know he’s that guy. His energy is contagious,” redshirt junior defensive end Jaelan Phillips said. “He’s been an integral part of our team’s success in building the character that we have as a team in the last couple of years. … At the end of the day, he still has a lot of football ahead of him.”
Said Frierson: “That’s tough on everyone, tough on the whole team. He’s always around. He’s a great guy. You know when he’s around, always laughing, playing. He always tries helping guys on the field, communicating. It’s tough just knowing his situation. We’re just praying for him and hoping for the best.”
