Midway through the 2012 campaign, Duke head coach David Cutcliffe noted that finding a comfortable spot in the Blue Devil training room was impossible "because our secondary is in the way."
Eleven practices into fall camp this year, the injury bug has struck again—this time in the backfield.
Redshirt junior running back Jela Duncan is out indefinitely with a partially torn pectoral muscle, redshirt sophomore Joseph Ajeigbe is dealing with a lower leg injury and sophomore Shaun Wilson is out with a tender hamstring. In announcing the setbacks Tuesday, the Blue Devils put 1,863 yards and 12 touchdowns out of commission for the time being, suddenly turning a projected strength into a question mark.
With senior Shaquille Powell the only healthy scholarship running back available, Cutcliffe poured over his roster Monday looking for a solution.
He thinks he's found it in the form of redshirt freshman quarterback Nicodem Pierre—who will now shift to running back.
"My job as as coach is to try to find answers, and you can't assume [the severity of the injuries]," Cutcliffe said Thursday on a call with reporters. "We're going to experiment with this—if he ends up being a great back, he'll never go back to quarterback, and he probably knows that."
Duke's quartet of running backs entered camp each with their own distinctive skill-set, but the immediate future has become less clear. Ajeigbe's lower leg injury is tough to gauge, Cutcliffe said, adding that Wilson appears to be at least a week away.
Duncan's injury seems to be the most serious of the bunch, but it's still possible the Charlotte, N.C., native could return this season, though Cutcliffe said he does not yet have a timetable.
"There's hope that he will be able to play. When you get into a muscle tear, partial or otherwise, depending upon a lot of medical things that they do on an MRI, often times these are immediate surgery and season-ending," Cutcliffe said. "This one, at this point, looks treatable with rehab."
At 6-foot-2, 210 pounds, Pierre will be a sizable and speedy addition to the backfield. The Miami native will get his first taste of live action during Saturday's scrimmage, but Cutcliffe noted the former quarterback's familiarity with the offense as an immediate asset.
Duncan, Ajeigbe and Wilson are not alone watching from the sidelines. Sixteen scholarship position players did not practice Wednesday.
"That's not ideal," Cutcliffe said. "The pace and the tempo we work.... We've got to watch what we do not to put kids that are still out there at risk of injury and fatigue, so it's an interesting little challenge."
The string of injuries will also play into how Cutcliffe structures Saturday's scrimmage. With so many players ailing, he said he simply cannot afford to lose more.
As a result, the scrimmage may come to be managed more like an NFL preseason game, where established players see minimal action.
"We've got people we need to see do things—that's going to be part of it. How many snaps do you need your starting folks that are experienced to get is another aspect of it," Cutcliffe said. "I don't know that Shaquille Powell's going to run the ball. Very little, if any, because I know he can run the football. We just can't afford something freak to happen to him if we can help it."
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