Mario Cristobal has three key injury updates for Miami

Miami coach Mario Cristobal shared a couple of positive injury updates ahead of Saturday’s game against Virginia. Although both receiver Brashard Smith and running back Thad Franklin missed last week, Cristobal confirmed in his Monday press conference that they are healthy heading into Week 9.

“Brashard is good to go for this week,” he said. “Last week, he just wasn’t ready. Thad Franklin, he’s ready. Just didn’t play.”

Smith has been one of the top targets for the Hurricanes this season with 23 catches for 241 yards. Franklin has served as the secondary back to leading rusher Henry Parrish and leads the Miami backfield with five touchdowns.

But while those two playmakers will be ready to go, the Hurricanes offense could be missing another key piece. Starting quarterback Tyler Van Dyke left Saturday’s game against Duke with a shoulder injury and did not return. Van Dyke received X-Rays in the locker room Saturday, but Cristobal was unable to say whether he would be healthy enough to play this week.

“Don’t know yet,” the coach said. “I know he was sore after the game and obviously he didn’t finish the game. We’re doing everything we can to get him ready. In the meantime, we have a lot of faith in both Jake (Garcia) and Jacurri (Brown) to go play football for us.”

The Miami offense struggled without Van Dyke, committing an astounding eight turnovers in the 45-21 loss on Saturday. Garcia took over after Van Dyke left with injury, finishing 13-of-21 passing for 198 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions.

The loss Saturday marked the fourth fourth in the past five games for Miami, which will hope for a positive injury update to Van Dyke ahead of Saturday. So far this season, the quarterback has 1,728 yards passing, 10 touchdowns and four interceptions.

The Hurricanes are scheduled to kick off against Virginia at 12:30 p.m. ET on the road.