Krzyzewski: Jefferson has fractured foot, timetable for return unclear

Senior forward Amile Jefferson fractured a bone in his right foot diving for a loose ball in practice, Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said, and the timetable for his return is unclear.

Krzyzewski shed additional light on his captain's injury after the Blue Devils’ 99-65 victory against Georgia Southern Tuesday, which Jefferson watched from the bench sporting crutches and a hard cast on his foot. The injury will not require surgery, but the Philadelphia native will be out indefinitely because it is unknown how long the bone will take to heal.

“The fact that it has no surgery is really good. He’ll be in a cast from now until the time after [Saturday's game against] Utah and then we go home, just so it's protected,” Krzyzewski said. “When he comes back on the 26th, the cast will come off, he’ll be in a boot and then be re-examined—not that we expect him to be back during that time.”

Duke's bench was already thin before Jefferson went down, and the Blue Devils cannot afford another injury. Just seven players saw meaningful minutes against the Eagles, and freshman center Antonio Vrankovic and redshirt freshman Sean Obi are unlikely to crack the rotation this season. That means Duke has to be careful in practice during Jefferson’s absence.

“We can absolutely have no contact in practice. The worst thing that can happen to us is to lose a guy on an injury in practice,” Krzyzewski said. “We’re going to eventually have to look at ways to condition unconventionally—not just sprints and things like that but water, elliptical…we haven’t come up with a plan yet.”

The indefinite tag on Jefferson’s absence is disconcerting, because Duke has plenty of experience in recent years with lingering foot injuries. Freshman phenom Kyrie Irving missed most of his only season in Durham with what initially appeared to be a mild toe injury, and forward Ryan Kelly missed 13 games with a fractured bone in his right foot during the 2012-13 season.

Jefferson was averaging 11.4 points and 10.3 rebounds in his first nine games this season, and his absence will force Duke to look elsewhere for contributions, particularly on the glass. The Blue Devils succeeded in that facet Tuesday—Ingram grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds against the Eagles, and the starting backcourt of Grayson Allen, Matt Jones and Luke Kennard combined for 18 more.

"Obviously, he's getting the best of care," Krzyzewski said of Jefferson. "We have to keep the ship afloat while he's gone. We don't have many guys."