FSU at Miami week: Miami’s Cristobal talks RB Jaylan Knighton, how to handle injuries
Miami Hurricanes coach Mario Cristobal on Monday spoke to WQAM about running back Jaylan Knighton and how players and staff have approached their several injuries this season, among the topics in his weekly interview with Joe Rose and former UM punter Brian Monroe.
Knighton, last year’s top running back with 561 rushing yards and eight rushing touchdowns last season in eight games, is a 5-10, 190-pound sophomore who did not play in UM’s four-overtime 14-12 victory at Virginia on Saturday. He has struggled this season, with three lost fumbles (Middle Tennessee, North Carolina, Duke). He has rushed 43 times for 163 yards and no touchdowns in six games (3.8 yards per carry), with seven catches for 65 yards.
Monroe: “You mentioned playing time is earned and we didn’t see Jaylan Knighton in this game get a touch. Is that something that he was dinged up or is that something to do with the fumbles he had last couple of games?
Cristobal: “Knighton is a good football player, he’s worked hard in practice and his touches are coming. This game Henry Parrish got hot, he was running hard, he was getting downhill, so we chose to go that route.”
Parrish led both teams Saturday with 24 carries for 115 yards. He now has 113 carries for 554 yards and four touchdowns in seven games, a 4.9 yards per carry and 79.1-yards-per-game average.
Injuries
Cristobal was not asked about injured quarterback Tyler Van Dyke. But Rose asked the coach if he expected to get back defensive end Akheem Mesidor (came out in first half at Virginia), linebacker Wesley Bissainthe (came out first half) and safety James Williams (was at game but didn’t play) for the Florida State game at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Hard Rock Stadium.
“Not sure. I think our guys are starting to adapt to missing guys. We hoped going into the season that we would have guys like Zion Nelson and [Will] Mallory and TVD and [Xavier] Restrepo on the field at the same time. We haven’t had that opportunity yet. …
“Ever since those things started happening, our guys started to adapt and realize, ‘This is football. And in football this kind of stuff happens.’ So get the next man ready, next man up. The best part about Saturday is the the guys supported each other and kept bringing juice on the sideline and kept finding ways to make plays.”
Later in the interview, Cristobal was asked if players these days in college football want to sit out more if they’re “not 100 percent’’ but could potentially play.
“You gotta leave the medical stuff to the medical people,’’ the coach replied. “It’s one of those things where you have to evaluate medically and come to the assessment is it a structural thing where true function is at risk or health is at risk — you always hedge on the side of, ‘Hey, man, you can’t play.’
“The other part [is] ‘OK, you’re a little bit nicked up but it’s a pain tolerance thing.’ We’re very honest with our guys. We tell them what can be done. But can you force a guy to play? No. Do you tell them the facts that you’re going to be expected to play if you can, even though it hurts a little bit? You’ve got to be honest about that part, too. Transparency and honesty with players and parents, that’s what it comes down to.”
UM underdogs
▪ The Hurricanes (4-4, 2-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) opened the week as a 9 1/2-point underdog to the Seminoles (5-3, 3-3). FSU dominated Georgia Tech 41-16 in Tallahassee on Saturday, with quarterback Jordan Travis throwing for a career-best 396 yards and three touchdowns.
This story was originally published October 31, 2022 at 9:22 AM.
