Mario Cristobal says James Williams got 'a little banged up' but is 'OK'

Miami suffered its fourth loss in the last five games on Saturday in a blowout home defeat against Duke, but the Hurricanes also saw several players leave the game hurt. A James Williams injury resulted in one of those unfortunate departures.

Luckily for Miami his injury doesn’t appear to be overly serious.

“He got a little banged up,” coach Mario Cristobal said Monday. “He got a little bit banged up, but he seems to be OK. He’s moving around.”

The lengthy safety has been one of Miami’s main contributors on defense, currently second on the team with 32 tackles. He has also recorded five pass breakups, a forced fumble and an interception, to go along with a half tackle for a loss.

All of that one year after emerging as an impact player as a true freshman.

Williams appeared in 10 games in 2021 in his first college season, earning seven starts as he was tabbed All-ACC Honorable Mention following the season. He picked up right where he left off this year.

With or without Williams, though, Miami has some issues to work through defensively. Those issues have become more apparent in recent weeks.

James Williams injury minor; ‘Canes need to step it up in secondary

While the total defense and scoring defense numbers aren’t terrible for Miami, they have been trending in the wrong direction of late.

Miami touts the nation’s No. 34 total defense, giving up 345.3 yards per game, while sporting the No. 53 scoring defense at 24.0 points per game allowed.

But after allowing just 12.3 points per game in the first three contests this season, Miami has given up 32.8 points per game in the last four.

The secondary, in particular, has been torched. MTSU boat-raced Miami en route to 45 points and 408 yards passing. The Hurricanes are currently ranked 107th nationally in team passing efficiency defense and 78th in passing defense (at 232.6 yards per game allowed).

Miami will be back in action this weekend, hoping to get back to .500 on the season in a road game at Virginia. The two teams will kick off at 12:30 p.m. ET with the game streaming on ESPN+.