Doug Marrone said the number of players entering training camp with his team this year “is not even close” to what it has been in recent seasons. Nearly 100 players will take the field for Syracuse’s first practice Monday, but up and down the roster, there are still question marks regarding some of their statuses and arrival dates.

The Orange had 14 players miss part of spring practices with injuries. While some have returned healthy for the start of training camp, others are still recovering or out for the season.

Transfers – notably defensive end John Raymon from Iowa and Quinta Funderburk from Arkansas – are in the process of transitioning to Syracuse.

Marrone said he doesn’t know when Raymon will be able to join the Orange, but Funderburk won’t see the field until 2013.

“With John Raymon, there’s an NCAA process that we’re going through. We do not know his eligibility for the season yet,” Marrone said. “Funderburk, obviously he will sit out a year and that will be his redshirt.”

Defensive tackle Davon Walls, a transfer from Coahoma Community College in Mississippi, still has a to take an academic test administered outside SU before he can join the team for training camp, which Marrone said will be on Tuesday.

Five Orange players are currently dealing with injuries.

Wide receiver Christopher Clark and defensive end Brandon Sharpe will both be limited at the start of camp due to injury. Clark, a transfer from East Los Angeles Community College, is recovering from a wrist injury and Sharpe suffered a laceration.

The Orange’s biggest loss is left tackle Justin Pugh, who will miss all of training camp and much of September with a shoulder injury suffered during spring practices.

Wide receiver Kyle Foster, a promising wide receiver Marrone hoped to involve more in the offense this season, is out for the season with a lower-body injury.

Tight end Louie Addazio is rehabbing an injury in Philadelphia, and will report to the team August 19.

Two key players who are healthy after spring-practices are Alec Lemon and Marquis Spruill, both of whom started for the Orange last season.

Lemon suffered a shoulder injury last season that required subsequent surgery, and Spruill had surgery after a lower-body injury suffered during the spring.

Published on August 3, 2012 at 5:52 pm