Last month Duke lost their All-Everything linebacker to a an ACL tear. While not nearly as serious, the Blue Devils have lost yet another player at the same position. Probably.
While nothing is set in stone, it’s highly doubtful that C.J. France plays in this weekend’s game against Troy due to a leg injury. In fact, head coach David Cutcliffe has already announced that redshirt freshman Chris Holmes will get the start, the first of his career.
“Thank goodness he has a game under his belt, he has a few real weeks of practice under his belt now,” Cutcliffe said of Holmes. “Obviously the biggest concern is that he missed most of camp with his own hamstring, but he looks full speed and ready to go.”
France suffered an unspecified leg injury in the season-opening win over Elon. There’s no word yet on whether the injury will bleed deeper into the next couple of weeks or even on into the start of ACC play at the end of the month.
It was France who was charged with the task of replacing David Helton... who was charged with the task of replacing Kelby Brown... who went down with the serious knee injury in mid-August. Prior to the opener this year, France had started 12 games over the past three seasons.
(Photo credit: Duke athletics)