Miami's dwindling playoff hopes took another hit Monday, as coach Mario Cristobal confirmed a number of key offensive contributors are likely to miss time.
Starting receiver CJ Daniels and starting corner OJ Frederique Jr. will both be out "a couple of weeks," according to Cristobal, who also said Monday that leading rusher Mark Fletcher Jr. could miss this week's game against Syracuse, as well.
Daniels, Frederique and defensive tackle Ahmad Moten Sr. all missed last week's loss to SMU. Moten is "50-50" to return this week, according to Cristobal.
Fletcher, who has 639 yards rushing and nine touchdowns so far this year, left last week's game early, and while Cristobal did not offer a timeline for his return, he did cast sizable doubt on Fletcher's likelihood to play against the Orange.
"It doesn't look like he will be available, but I don't know that yet," Cristobal said.
Daniels leads Miami with six touchdown catches and is second on the team with 351 receiving yards. The Hurricanes have struggled to find consistent weapons in the passing game outside of Daniels and star freshman Malachi Toney.
Frederique has five pass breakups and 10 tackles and was a freshman All-American last season.
Miami was ranked No. 2 in the AP poll just three weeks ago, but losses to then-unranked Louisville and unranked SMU have derailed what looked like a potential national championship run.
ESPN's FPI gives Miami a 15% chance of still making the playoff, but, at 2-2 in conference play, the Canes' chances to win the ACC are slim.
After hosting Syracuse, Miami will play NC State and then travel to Virginia Tech and Pittsburgh to close out the regular season.
