Weinke Sidelined by Ankle Injury

A day after Florida State moved into the No. 1 ranking, quarterback Chris Weinke moved slowly with a walking boot protecting his left ankle.

The Seminoles’ Heisman Trophy contender missed practice Monday, still hampered by a sprained ankle sustained early in the third quarter of last Thursday night’s 59-7 win over Maryland.

“I didn’t know how it was going to feel, but right now I can’t put any pressure on it,” Weinke said. “I can’t stand on it. It’s obviously not as good as I thought it would be.

“I’m not going to go out there [and practice] if it doesn’t feel good or if it’s not going to help me to prepare for the game in terms of making it worse.”

Weinke, who led Florida State to the national title last season, expects to play Saturday when the Seminoles (5-0) visit No. 7 Miami (3-1) at the Orange Bowl. He is not on crutches.

“My thoughts now are, ‘Yeah, I’m going to play in that game,’ ” he said.

Marcus Outzen is Weinke’s backup, but he’s not in the same league as the 28-year-old senior who ranks third nationally in passing efficiency. Weinke has completed 98 of 154 passes for 1,478 yards and 12 touchdowns.

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Tennessee defensive end DeAngelo Lloyd is walking and moving fine after bruising his spinal cord in the final minutes of the Volunteers’ loss to Louisiana State.

However, Lloyd is not expected to play Saturday at Georgia and Coach Phillip Fulmer refused to speculate when he will return to action.

“We will be cautious with it,” Fulmer said. “We’re just grateful and thankful that it wasn’t more serious than it was.”

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The career of Arizona State quarterback Ryan Kealy, who injured his right knee in a 38-31 loss to UCLA, is almost certainly over because doctors are sure he suffered another torn anterior cruciate ligament.

No MRI will be conducted for several days, and the disheartened Kealy has been told to take a few days off to evaluate the apparent end of his career.

“We’ve given him some time to get away from it to figure out what he really wants to do,” Coach Bruce Snyder said.

Despite Kealy’s history of terrible knee injuries--six on his right and four on his left, resulting in three reconstructive surgeries so far--Snyder said there was a possibility the senior would return.