Report: Riley Leonard will be a game-time decision vs. Louisville

Last week — just three weeks after suffering a high ankle sprain — Riley Leonard was back on the field for Duke as the Blue Devils squared off against Florida State. In the third quarter, though, he tweaked that ankle again and ended up spending the rest of the game on the sidelines.

According to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, Leonard pushed to return. However, the Duke staff didn’t let him come back, and he’s now a game-time decision this week when the Blue Devils head to Louisville.

“Riley Leonard came back on the early side of a timeline for a high ankle sprain,” Thamel said on College Football Live Friday afternoon. “Three weeks after injuring that ankle against Notre Dame, he played Saturday night against Florida State. He re-aggravated that same right ankle on an illegal hit by Florida State’s Braden Fiske. As he was ripped down by his facemask, he hurt his ankle. He left the game. I was told this week Leonard wanted to come back in the game. He was not allowed to, and he’s going to be a game-time decision at Louisville.”

Leonard has been one of the top quarterbacks in the ACC this season, ninth in the conference with 220 yards of offense per game as a true dual threat quarterback. He threw for 778 yards and two touchdowns through the first four games of the season while adding 238 yards and four touchdowns on the ground to help Duke start off 4-0.

However, on the final play of the loss to Notre Dame in Week 5, Leonard suffered a high ankle sprain and immediately headed to the medical tent as time expired. Duke had a bye the week after, which could have given him time to rest up. He missed the game against NC State — a 24-3 Duke victory — and, apparently, he felt good enough to go against Florida State.

After the 38-20 loss to the Seminoles, Blue Devils head coach Mike Elko said Leonard was pleading his case to get back on the field as Florida State made a late surge. The staff ultimately determined he wasn’t healthy enough to do so, though, and they let Henry Belin finish things out.

“He wanted to come back in,” Elko said. “He was begging me on the sideline to come back in. I didn’t feel comfortable with where he was health-wise to bring him back, and so we didn’t do it.”