Syracuse star junior defensive end Ron Thompson will be out a couple weeks with a lower-body injury, SU head coach Scott Shafer told the media following practice Friday morning. The injury compounds issues on the defensive line early in camp, with senior defensive tackle John Raymon still “week-to-week” with an upper-body injury of his own.

“Well I feel more concerned about them as people as individuals,” Shafer said. “But our focus is let’s go to the next guys and develop them, so there’s a silver lining in there. It’s not like they’re out for the season or anything like that. They’ve played a lot of football. … We’ll get those two guys back here in not too long. Twenty-one days out right now.”

Thompson recorded 32 total tackles as a sophomore in 2014, as well as a rushing touchdown.

Other notes from Shafer’s press conference

• Shafer said he was especially impressed with sophomore hybrid Ervin Philips on Friday morning. He made some catches down the field, ran the ball and made a nice juke, Shafer said.

• Kendall Moore led the way with the tight ends, Shafer said. Moore played with the group again, a position Shafer said Friday that the team planned to use more than in the past.

• Shafer addressed the addition of Wisconsin to the SU football schedule in 2020 and 2021. In regards to scheduling, he said it’s good to schedule high-profile opponents, but not three or four of those games a season.