Syracuse football loses Abdul Adams, Sam Heckel for remainder of spring practice

The Syracuse Orange football team will be without two major contributors for the remainder of spring practice. Running back Abdul Adams and Sam Heckel will both be out, according to coach Dino Babers. Syracuse.com’s Stephen Bailey was the first to report the news.

We’d already learned the other day that Heckel was out, and Babers stated that he’ll undergo surgey. Heckel was projected to be the team’s starting center, with former starter Airon Servais moving out to tackle. With Heckel out, Servais likely shifts back to snapping duties, with Mike Clark potentially stepping up at tackle for the rest of spring. South Alabama transfer Ryan Alexander is a contender for one of the starting tackle positions come fall, but he’s not yet on campus.

Babers didn’t indicate that Adams needed surgery at all, but with this arm in a sling, he’ll miss the rest of spring ball as well. Adams scored two touchdowns in the Camping World Bowl after sitting out the regular season due to NCAA transfer rules and was slated to compete with Moe Neal for the starting running back gig. That will largely be manned by Neal and Jarveon Howard for now — at least until he returns.

Both players should be ready for fall, according to Babers.

With more contact by this point in spring practice, it’s also when injuries can unfortunately occur. Not great to see the two absences above — especially Hekcel given how much talent Syracuse is trying to replace on the offensive line. His absence does set back the development of chemistry among the group (which was a large part of last year’s success). Still, as long as he’s back for camp this summer, that still leaves ample time to jump back into the swing of things.