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After not throwing with his right arm Wednesday, Eck said quarterback Jack Layne will be out for the “near future” while rehabbing a nagging elbow injury.
UNM’s starter last season did not throw during spring practice as he recovered from an offseason surgery to repair a torn tendon in his right elbow. The fifth-year senior has battled issues with said elbow since transferring to UNM, notably playing through said tear over the second half of last season.
“It’s bothering him a little bit,” Eck said. “He got a second opinion, saw another specialist and you know, we gotta sort some things out. But he’ll be out for the near future and doing rehab and we’ll see if we can get him back (and) ready.”
Without Layne – largely considered the frontrunner for the starting job – UNM split reps with the first-team offense between James Laubstein, Luke Moga and Toa Fa’avae on Wednesday. All three are expected to compete for the starting job; Eck said he would like one of them to start pulling ahead within the next 13 practices.
“I thought all three of those guys had good moments,” Eck said.
UNLV transfer receiver Troy Omeire was also in and out of practice Wednesday. Eck said he’s dealing with a hamstring injury and expects him back in the next week.
“He’s just rehabbing it, getting stronger right now,” he added. “He did some good things this summer, but just tweaked it in kind of one of the last workouts of the summer.”
Notes and quotes
*
The rest of UNM’s inactive players Wednesday: running back Deshaun Buchanan, tight end Joey Olsen, wide receiver Abraham Williams, cornerback Melaki Gutierrez and defensive lineman Cody Thumlert. Gutierrez will miss the season after having surgery this offseason, Eck said.
*
No surprises with the first-team offensive line UNM rolled out Wednesday: Cole Millward, Malik Aliane, Kaden Robnett, Jaymar Tasi and Tyler Lawrence. Expect some shuffling soon, though.
*
Players only practiced in helmets Wednesday, so there weren’t a ton of meaningful on-field observations to be made. But receivers Miles Williams and Jacob Maldonado – a freshman out of Cleveland High School – both notched some nice diving catches down the sideline.
*
Cornerback Jahmir Torres also picked up right where he left off this spring, intercepting a pass from Toa Fa’avae during a skelly (seven-on-seven without linemen) period. If he forces takeaways at a similar rate to what he did this spring, he’ll be in line for plenty of playing time this season.
*
The first-team defense I saw Wednesday: defensive linemen Darren Agu, Xavier Slayton, Brian Booker and Karhu; linebackers Jaxton Eck and Mercury Swaim; cornerbacks Frankie Edwards III and Ormanie Arnold; and safeties Tavian Combs, Austin Brawley and Drew Speech. Karhu wasted no time whatsoever sliding back in with the ones.
*
Eck said he hadn’t studied the Protect College Sports Act too deeply, but likes the gist of it: “Just the trends of college athletics, the way things that we’re going, probably the only two things that would that would either be collective bargaining … or some government intervention and having some carve-outs with antitrust (matters),” he added. “I do think that (the bill) would be a positive – it’s tough right now because the NCAA can’t really enforce its own rules.”
*
Wednesday, Akron announced plans to select a random season ticket holder to call offensive plays for the Zips’ first drive in its season-opener against FCS Robert Morris. Eck indicated it would take more than purchasing season tickets for that to open at UNM: “It’s probably, like, a $20 million donation to (UNM’s) NIL,” he joked.
*
Former Lobo wide receiver Caleb Medford has rejoined UNM as an offensive graduate assistant: “We had a couple spots open this offseason and he had reached out and expressed interest,” Eck said. “ … When he was here, he was well-respected, took care of his business in class, did a good job. (They were) able to get him in school and get him rolling, and that was a good addition.”
Sean Reider covers college football and other sports for the Journal. You can reach him at [email protected] or via X at @lenaweereider.
Continue reading...
UNM’s starter last season did not throw during spring practice as he recovered from an offseason surgery to repair a torn tendon in his right elbow. The fifth-year senior has battled issues with said elbow since transferring to UNM, notably playing through said tear over the second half of last season.
“It’s bothering him a little bit,” Eck said. “He got a second opinion, saw another specialist and you know, we gotta sort some things out. But he’ll be out for the near future and doing rehab and we’ll see if we can get him back (and) ready.”
Without Layne – largely considered the frontrunner for the starting job – UNM split reps with the first-team offense between James Laubstein, Luke Moga and Toa Fa’avae on Wednesday. All three are expected to compete for the starting job; Eck said he would like one of them to start pulling ahead within the next 13 practices.
“I thought all three of those guys had good moments,” Eck said.
UNLV transfer receiver Troy Omeire was also in and out of practice Wednesday. Eck said he’s dealing with a hamstring injury and expects him back in the next week.
“He’s just rehabbing it, getting stronger right now,” he added. “He did some good things this summer, but just tweaked it in kind of one of the last workouts of the summer.”
Notes and quotes
*
The rest of UNM’s inactive players Wednesday: running back Deshaun Buchanan, tight end Joey Olsen, wide receiver Abraham Williams, cornerback Melaki Gutierrez and defensive lineman Cody Thumlert. Gutierrez will miss the season after having surgery this offseason, Eck said.
*
No surprises with the first-team offensive line UNM rolled out Wednesday: Cole Millward, Malik Aliane, Kaden Robnett, Jaymar Tasi and Tyler Lawrence. Expect some shuffling soon, though.
*
Players only practiced in helmets Wednesday, so there weren’t a ton of meaningful on-field observations to be made. But receivers Miles Williams and Jacob Maldonado – a freshman out of Cleveland High School – both notched some nice diving catches down the sideline.
*
Cornerback Jahmir Torres also picked up right where he left off this spring, intercepting a pass from Toa Fa’avae during a skelly (seven-on-seven without linemen) period. If he forces takeaways at a similar rate to what he did this spring, he’ll be in line for plenty of playing time this season.
*
The first-team defense I saw Wednesday: defensive linemen Darren Agu, Xavier Slayton, Brian Booker and Karhu; linebackers Jaxton Eck and Mercury Swaim; cornerbacks Frankie Edwards III and Ormanie Arnold; and safeties Tavian Combs, Austin Brawley and Drew Speech. Karhu wasted no time whatsoever sliding back in with the ones.
*
Eck said he hadn’t studied the Protect College Sports Act too deeply, but likes the gist of it: “Just the trends of college athletics, the way things that we’re going, probably the only two things that would that would either be collective bargaining … or some government intervention and having some carve-outs with antitrust (matters),” he added. “I do think that (the bill) would be a positive – it’s tough right now because the NCAA can’t really enforce its own rules.”
*
Wednesday, Akron announced plans to select a random season ticket holder to call offensive plays for the Zips’ first drive in its season-opener against FCS Robert Morris. Eck indicated it would take more than purchasing season tickets for that to open at UNM: “It’s probably, like, a $20 million donation to (UNM’s) NIL,” he joked.
*
Former Lobo wide receiver Caleb Medford has rejoined UNM as an offensive graduate assistant: “We had a couple spots open this offseason and he had reached out and expressed interest,” Eck said. “ … When he was here, he was well-respected, took care of his business in class, did a good job. (They were) able to get him in school and get him rolling, and that was a good addition.”
Sean Reider covers college football and other sports for the Journal. You can reach him at [email protected] or via X at @lenaweereider.
Continue reading...
