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Arizona begins spring football practice on Wednesday, but two key players will be out of action because of injury.
Wide receiver Jamarye Joiner and defensive lineman Kyon Barrs will both miss spring practice after each undergoing foot surgeries on Tuesday, coach Jedd Fisch confirmed. Both are expected to be ready for preseason training camp.
This is the third foot surgery for Joiner, who will be a 5th-year junior who played most of his redshirt freshman season in 2019 with a Jones fracture before having surgery in spring 2020. He re-injured the foot during the 2021 spring game, causing him to miss most of training camp and not make his season debut until late September, and only ended up starting one game while splitting time at receiver and quarterback, the position he was recruited to play out of high school.
Prayers up for a successful surgery today @Jamaryejoiner we love you son! You got this! pic.twitter.com/5BpmodO4vP
— ⬇️ MAMA BEAR (@vailtrackclub) March 1, 2022
Barrs, who will be a 4th-year junior, started seven games in 2021 but dealt with injuries during the preseason and midway through the fall, missing two games in October.
Linebacker Jerry Roberts, who broke his leg on the first defensive play of the Washington State game in late November, is expected to be limited for the first half of spring ball, while tight end Tanner McLachlan, a transfer from Southern Utah, will also be limited at the outset while recovering from a torn ACL.
A player whose status for spring is uncertain is offensive lineman Davis DiVall, a transfer from Baylor who had to sit out last season. Fisch said he will not be available for the start of practice while dealing with personal issues.
Expected back as full participants, though, are quarterbacks Gunner Cruz and Jordan McCloud, giving Arizona healthy scholarship QBs (and six total) for all of spring. Cruz broke the thumb on his throwing hand in October at Colorado, requiring season-ending surgery, a week after McCloud suffered season-ending knee and ankle injuries late in a home loss to UCLA.
The Wildcats will have one practice prior to taking a roughly 2-week break due to Arizona’s Spring Break, then resume workouts March 15. The Spring Game is scheduled for April 9.
Arizona spring practice schedule
- March 2, 3:40 p.m. MT
- March 15, 3:25 p.m. MT
- March 17, 3:25 p.m. MT
- March 19, 7 p.m. MT
- March 21, 3:25 p.m. MT
- March 23, 3:25 p.m. MT
- March 25, 3:25 p.m. MT
- March 26, 12 p.m. MT
- March 28, 3:25 p.m. MT
- March 30, 3:25 p.m. MT
- April 1, 3:25 p.m. MT
- April 2, 7 p.m. MT
- April 5, 3:25 p.m. MT
- April 7, 3:25 p.m. MT
- April 9, 12 p.m. MT
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