DAVIE, Fla. – If Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher doesn’t appear overly concerned about the loss of junior safety Ermon Lane to a broken foot, that’s not necessarily a reflection on Lane’s value to the team.
It has more to do with the fact that Fisher and the Seminoles have been through this routine before -- twice in fact.
In the second week of the 2016 season, the Seminoles lost star sophomore safety Derwin James to what would end up being a season-ending knee injury. Senior safety Nate Andrews then went down with a season-ending shoulder injury four weeks later. Now Lane is out for the Orange Bowl.
“We miss him,” Fisher said of Lane. “We hate to miss him because he was playing really good. But we’ve got A.J. [Westbrook], [Calvin] Brewton, Trey Marshall, that whole crew.”
Fisher, who was addressing the media at the end of Monday’s Orange Bowl practice at Nova Southeastern University, was making his first public comments about the fallout from Lane’s injury, which occurred last week in Tallahassee.
Lane, a converted wide receiver who played a vital role in the Seminoles’ secondary during the final seven games of the season, sustained a freak injury while participating in non-contact 7-on-7 drills.
The Miami native made the trip to South Florida with the team on Saturday, but he is on crutches while his teammates are preparing to face Michigan.
“He wanted to play in this game so bad, being from here,” senior cornerback Marquez White said. “Just getting hurt the way he did -- I didn’t even see it. He just came off (the field) like, ‘My foot’s messed up.’ … So he’s taking it kinda hard.”
