Syracuse football: Injury and availability updates for Orange starters at Pitt

With the Syracuse Orange getting set to tackle the Pittsburgh Panthers in a Thursday night showdown this week, Orange head coach Fran Brown gave updates on some of his key players who have been unavailable due to various reasons. The first player who Brown commented on was LB Marlowe Wax. Brown said that Wax would most likely be ready to return for next week’s game against Virginia Tech.

“He’s a tough kid,” said Brown. “He wants to go, but just for his safety and all the things, probably next week.

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Wax has yet to return from a lower-body injury that he suffered during the third quarter of Syracuse’s first game of the season against Ohio. The second-team All-ACC linebacker had six tackles, one sack and a forced fumble in that game against Ohio before his injury. Brown’s initial prognosis that he received from the team’s medical staff was a six-week recovery period. That could’ve made Wax available for this week’s game against Pitt, but the Orange are clearly playing it careful with their star linebacker.

Brown then commented on true freshman DB Marcellus Barnes, who earned a starting spot at cornerback alongside Devin Grant and Clarence Lewis to start the season. Barnes featured in the first three games of Syracuse’s season, but hasn’t featured since the Holy Cross game with an undisclosed injury. Barnes was spotted participating in initial warmups at NC State but was in street clothes by the time Syracuse put on pads.

“We just felt the other guy was ahead of where he was at the time,” said Brown.

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Brown is most likely referring to Jayden Bellamy, who has taken the cornerback spot opposite Clarence Lewis. Grant has moved to Syracuse’s Star/nickelback role in the 4-2-5 formation with Justin Barron moving down to linebacker to help fill the gap left by Wax’s injury. Barnes has three tackles and three pass defends on the season in his three games so far.

“You don’t just get right back where you were just because you left off,” said Brown.

Finally, Brown continued to confirm that WR Zeed Haynes is still away from the team due to a personal family issue. Haynes played in Syracuse’s first two games of the season. He had eight catches and 97 yards over those two contests. Brown hasn’t provided context on what the family issue is or what the expected timeline is for Haynes’ return. However, Brown indicated that he’ll let everyone know when Haynes is back with the team.

“As soon as Zeed can come back, I’m gonna just make sure I tell everybody,” said Brown. “I’m gonna post it, I’m gonna throw a party and everything. You’re gonna see all these orange and blue balloons coming out from my spot as soon as he back.”

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Haynes started the season as Syracuse’s No. 1 wide receiver in the depth chart. That role has since been filled by fellow Georgia transfer Jackson Meeks, who has set the stat sheet on fire. Meeks has 29 catches for 344 yards and three touchdowns in the three games that Haynes has missed.

Syracuse travels to Pitt on Thursday night for the 80th all-time matchup between the two programs. Kickoff on ESPN is set for 7:30 pm.