Riley Leonard Injury Update

Here’s a small bit of good news to come out of the Notre Dame game: as you probably know, Duke quarterback Riley Leonard suffered an ankle injury at the end of the loss to Notre Dame and he left the field on crutches.

It didn't look good. Leonard is having a great year and has emerged as one of the best double-threat quarterbacks in the country. Obviously losing him for an extended period of time would be a huge blow to this team and post-season possibilities.

According to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, as reported in the Duke Chronicle, it looks like a reasonably manageable situation. Leonard has a high-ankle sprain and he will be out for weeks and not the rest of the season.

Duke has a bye week coming up so in that sense the timing couldn't possibly be better.

The Blue Devils get NC State the following week and while we might not see him back for that one, you never know either.

This brings us to one of the hidden strengths of Duke sports in general and that’s Duke’s brilliant sports medicine program. We have no idea what they’ll do for Leonard’s ankle, but whatever they do, it’ll be cutting edge and highly effective. We've seen remarkable recoveries in the basketball program, particularly from foot and ankle injuries, so clearly those people know what they’re doing. If the various coaches aren’t using that in recruiting, they certainly should be. It’s a huge asset.