Riley Leonard appears to reaggravate ankle injury, leaves game vs. Florida State

Duke quarterback Riley Leonard made his return from an ankle injury on Saturday against Florida State. Unfortunately, he appeared to tweak the injured ankle on a play in the third quarter, falling to the ground as trainers ran to his aid.

Leonard had to be helped off the field and was later seen standing on the sidelines with his helmet off. Henry Belin entered the game in place of Leonard with the Blue Devils leading 20-17 and 4:27 remaining in the third quarter.

Early in the fourth quarter, ESPN sideline reporter Holly Rowe provided an update on Leonard’s status, saying that he is done for the day despite trying his best to return.

“Riley Leonard has been trying to get back in this game,” Rowe said. “He’s been working out on the sidelines, taking drop backs. He went and got his helmet, put it on and told coach (Mike) Elko, basically, he wants to go back in. Coach Elko with a very friendly smile and good demeanor was like, ‘no, man. We’re not putting you back out there.”

Leonard was playing his first game since first suffering the ankle injury in Week 5 against Notre Dame. The Blue Devils had a bye the following week and sat out Week 7 against NC State before making his return on Saturday.

The quarterback had so far gone 7-of-16 passing for 69 yards and an interception before exiting the game against the Seminoles with injury. He also managed a 13-yard run in the first half but otherwise hadn’t looked as mobile as he typically is, likely due to the injury.

Now the Blue Devils return to Belin, who previously started against the Wolfpack with Leonard sidelined. He went 4-of-12 passing for 107 yards, two touchdowns and an interception as Duke won 24-3 in that contest.

So far, the Blue Devils have looked a bit out of sorts following Riley Leonard’s exit due to injury. They’ve so far managed just three yards since he left the game and have not scored a touchdown all half. Belin is so far just 0-for-4 passing as Florida State has gone on to score a pair of touchdown to retake a 31-20 lead with 7:51 remaining.

Even the rushing attack, which managed 144 yards in the first half alone, as looked ineffective as the Seminoles defense can focus less on the pass. Duke will hope to turn things around, but at this point it seems the loss of Leonard may be too much to overcome.