Syracuse Orange Football: Injury and availability updates for Orange starters at Pitt

As the Syracuse Orange face the Pittsburgh Panthers in a Thursday night showdown this week, Orange head coach Fran Brown provided updates on some of his key players who were unavailable for various reasons. The first player Brown commented on was LB Marlowe Wax. Brown said Wax would most likely be ready to return for next week's game against Virginia Tech.

“He’s a tough kid,” Brown said. “He wants to go, but just for his safety and all that, probably next week.

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Wax has not yet returned from a lower-body injury he suffered in the third quarter of Syracuse's first game of the season against Ohio. The second-team All-ACC linebacker had six tackles, a sack and a forced fumble in that game against Ohio before his injury. Brown's initial prognosis, given to him by the team's medical staff, was a six-week recovery period. That could have made Wax available for this week's game against Pitt, but the Orange are clearly taking a cautious approach with their star linebacker.

Brown then commented on true freshman DB Marcellus Barnes, who earned a starting cornerback spot alongside Devin Grant and Clarence Lewis early in the season. Barnes appeared in the first three games of the Syracuse season, but has not played since the Holy Cross game due to an undisclosed injury. Barnes was spotted during NC State's first warmups but was already in street clothes when Syracuse donned the pads.

“We just felt like each other was ahead of where he was at the time,” Brown said.

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Brown is most likely referring to Jayden Bellamy, who has taken the cornerback spot opposite Clarence Lewis. Grant has moved to Syracuse's star/nickelback role in the 4-2-5 formation, while Justin Barron moved to linebacker to fill the void left by Wax's injury. Barnes has three tackles and three pass defenses in his three games so far this season.

“You don’t just go back to where you were just because you quit,” Brown said.

Finally, Brown further confirmed that WR Zeed Haynes is still not with the team due to a personal family issue. Haynes played in Syracuse's first two games of the season. He had eight catches and 97 yards in those two contests. Brown did not provide any context as to what the family is about or what the expected timeline for Haynes' return is. However, Brown indicated that he would let everyone know when Haynes was back on the team.

“As soon as Zeed can come back, I’ll make sure I tell everyone,” Brown said. “I'll post it, I'll throw a party and everything. As soon as he comes back, you’ll see all these orange and blue balloons rising from my seat.”

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Haynes began the season as Syracuse's No. 1 wide receiver on the depth chart. That role has since been filled by fellow Georgia transfer Jackson Meeks, who made a splash. Meeks has 29 catches for 344 yards and three touchdowns in the three games Haynes missed.

Syracuse travels to Pitt on Thursday night for the 80th all-time matchup between the two programs. Kickoff on ESPN is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.