When Delone Carter fell to the ground during practice on Saturday, Greg Robinson didn’t know if the injury was serious.

When the head coach approached the running back that was entering this Saturday’s spring game No. 1 on the depth chart, Robinson realized it was serious.

‘When I got down with him, I could tell he was in pain – real pain,’ Robinson said. ‘You’re around a lot of different types of injuries, and I knew quickly this was serious.’

On Monday, Robinson confirmed how serious. Carter will miss at least the 2007 season with a dislocated hip that includes a fracture on the posterior side, and a long-term determination won’t be made for another six months. Carter had surgery on Sunday morning to get a pin placed in the hip and is expected to be released from Crouse Hospital today.

‘Realistically, we have to believe Delone won’t be playing this fall,’ Robinson said. ‘To try to really anticipate when his return will be is hard to say.’

The surgery was performed by orthopedic surgeon Dr. Wayne Eckhardt, an assistant team doctor at the Crouse Medical Center. Robinson said Eckhardt was satisfied with the surgery and believed Carter can fully recover. However, Robinson said it will take six months to determine whether the hip is recovering properly.

The fear with hip dislocations is a condition called avascular necrosis (AVN), which is characterized by a disruption of blood flow to the hip joint. This condition led to former NFL star Bo Jackson’s retirement from football.

Robinson acknowledged the possibility that this injury could be career-threatening, although he said it’s not likely.

‘I think Dr. Eckhardt was very clear in saying there’s no guarantees, and there really isn’t in these types of injuries,’ Robinson said. ‘But I do believe from what I’ve listened to the doctor say, the odds are in his favor – strongly in his favor. It’s less than 5 percent of people with that injury where it’s one that would be that debilitating that you would be unable to play.’

Nonetheless, Carter’s injury is a significant blow to the Orange. The freshman was one of the few bright spots in SU’s 4-8 season in 2006. He rushed for 713 yards on 156 carries, becoming the first freshman to lead Syracuse in rushing since Joe Morris in 1978. Carter recorded four touchdowns, all during his memorable performance against Wyoming on Sept. 30.

Robinson pinpointed Carter as one of the players who particularly took advantage of the team’s offseason program and was the primary reason why there was confidence in SU’s running game heading into next season.

‘What it comes down to is we have to disperse the productivity that we were going to get out of Delone,’ Robinson said. ‘I don’t think any one person could do that.’

The obvious place to turn is Curtis Brinkley, SU’s second-leading rusher last season with 571 yards and the No. 1 running back for much of the season. Brinkley, though, is recovering from a knee injury that plagued him last season. The rising junior told The Daily Orange last week his knee is only about 50 percent healed from offseason arthroscopic knee surgery.

Even though Carter’s injury leaves Syracuse thinner at running back this week than it was last week, Robinson has no plans to hold back Brinkley.

‘That’s not the way you work. You keep working,’ Robinson said. ‘Curtis needs work, too. You have to keep going, keep working, but we don’t practice until Wednesday, so we’re still weighing options and trying to figure out what we might be able to do.’

Robinson said Brinkley has been ‘very productive’ in the spring. He also pointed out Paul Chiara, Daniel Bailey and fullback Tony Fiammetta as players who will figure into the mix now that Carter will be on the sideline. Linebackers Jeremy Sellers and Derrell Smith are former running backs Robinson also mentioned.

Syracuse has a freshman class entering in the fall that Robinson lauded on Signing Day as having the ability to play different positions. Incoming freshmen Doug Hogue, Jamere Knox and Max Suter played running back in high school. However, Robinson reserved judgment on positions or playing time for players who aren’t in spring practice.

‘It’s hard to predict where freshmen could be,’ Robinson said. ‘I’d rather view a freshman on the football field before I can make any statement in regard to what his productivity can be for the football team in the fall.’

What Robinson made clear is there’s no one way to replace Carter. The lone bright spot in the injury is that it happened early enough that the coaching staff could plan accordingly.

‘This will take time to figure this all out,’ Robinson said. ‘But this has occurred with still a week of spring ball left and then the summer. That’s a good thing in the sense that we still have time to weigh the situations and try to see how we can go about taking care of the issue of dispersing Delone’s productivity.’

Published on April 15, 2007 at 12:00 pm