Report: Duke QB Thomas Sirk reinjures Achilles, expected to miss season
Duke's bid to make a fifth consecutive bowl game under David Cutcliffe may have already suffered a devastating blow before the 2016 season has even started. Redshirt senior quarterback Thomas Sirk reportedly reinjured the left Achilles tendon he tore in February, and is expected to miss the season.
Sirk's setback was initially reported by the The Associated Press via a source that spoke Friday night on a condition of anonymity because the Blue Devils had yet to announce the injury.
The QB had already returned from an Achilles injury once, missing the entire 2013 season with a ruptured right tendon. He returned and last season went on to throw for 2,625 yards and 16 touchdowns and led Duke with 803 yards and eight more scores on the ground.
Backup Parker Boehme, a redshirt junior, has some experience with 13 games and 190 snaps under his belt. But it's redshirt freshman Daniel Jones that has been receiving more first-team snaps.
Like Sirk, Jones brings dual-threat capabilities to Cutcliffe's offense, which he put on display at Charlotte's Latin High School, rushing for 778 yards and 10 TDs to go along with nearly 3,000 passing yards and 43 scores as a senior.
The Blue Devils open the season Sept. 3 against North Carolina Central and then follow that with Wake Forest. After that the schedule heats up as they face Northwestern and No. 10 Notre Dame in back-to-back road games.
Follow Cory McCartney on Twitter @coryjmccartney and Facebook. His book, 'Tales from the Atlanta Braves Dugout: A Collection of the Greatest Braves Stories Ever Told,' is out now, and 'The Heisman Trophy: The Story of an American Icon and Its Winners' will be released Nov. 1, 2016.
