Before You Bet On North Carolina . . .

[Cane from the Bend]

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. --- After one week of training camp, three North Carolina players have been lost for the season due to injuries. Head coach Larry Fedora announced the news on Wednesday about Bandit Shakeel Rashad (knee), safety Sam Smiley (foot) and wide receiver Dalton Stogner (knee).

Larry Fedora: “Any time you lose one guy, it’s concerning. And to lose three…. That’s why you’re constantly talking about depth, building that depth and doing the things that it takes depth-wise. We’ve had three season-ending injuries. But it’s camp – we’re holding up. There’s a lot of bumps and bruises and guys are banged up and they’re pushing through it.”

Rashad played in 11 games in 2012 as a true freshman, including a start in the season finale. He totaled 18 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks on the season, and was competing for the starting Bandit spot for 2013. Rashad sat out spring practice in 2012 due to exploratory knee surgery.

Fedora confirmed that Rashad had knee surgery.

Smiley, who redshirted in 2011, started five games in 2012, recording 26 tackles, but he missed five games due to injury.

A torn ligament in his foot caused him to miss most of his junior high school season.

Stogner, a redshirt freshman walk-on, was third on the depth chart at one of the wide receiver positions this first week of camp. He also suffered a season-ending knee injury his senior year of high school.

North Carolina completed its eighth practice of training camp shortly after noon on Wednesday.

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Just something for you gamblers & fantasy players to think about.

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[Eric]

Ouch.

This got me thinking of all the ACL tears in preseason camp in the NFL. The teams that announce these things seem like they should sound more devastated than they are, but I think the players and the coaches just accept that preseason injuries are a fact of life.