Duke Blue Devils

More Blue Devils Ruled Out After Suffering Injuries vs. Notre Dame

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Duke Football will be without two more key players this weekend with running back Jela Duncan and linebacker Tinashe Bere ruled out against Virginia.

After losing starting quarterback Thomas Sirk and recently safety DeVon Edwards for the rest of the season, Duke Football recently received some more bad injury news. Running back Jela Duncan and linebacker Tinashe Bere will not play this weekend.

Redshirt senior Jela Duncan is the leading rusher for the team and a key part of the offense. He recorded a career-high 121 rushing yards against the Fighting Irish along with a touchdown. Duncan reportedly suffered an ankle injury in last week’s game and will miss the upcoming game as a precautionary measure. Duncan will be the third team captain out for the game this weekend joining Edwards and Sirk. Duke will most likely turn to dynamic playmaker Shaun Wilson and reserve RB Joseph Ajeigbe to step in for Duncan.

Redshirt sophomore linebacker Tinashe Bere unfortunately suffered a worse injury, and is expected to miss the rest of the season after a significant knee injury suffered against Notre Dame. Bere totaled five tackles in Duke Football’s upset of the Fighting Irish last week coming off the bench. He will be harder to replace with an already thin rotation at linebacker, but fans should expect to see a bigger role from redshirt freshman Joe Giles-Harris and junior Zavier Carmichael.

We hope that both of these Blue Devils recovery quickly from their respective injuries, but until then Duke will have to overcome even more adversity in order to continue playing at a high level for the rest of the season.