Fryzel goes on IR, Preds sign James from practice squad
March 14, 2007 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Orlando Predators News Release
Orlando, Fla. (March 14) -- As expected the Orlando Predators placed wide receiver Jimmy Fryzel on the injured reserve list on Wednesday. The move means that Orlando's leading receiver from last year will miss the next four games and will not be eligible to return until the Apr. 20 game against New York.
Fryzel had hamstring problems throughout the pre-season, re-injured it against Tampa Bay in the season opener and tried to play through it last week.
"When you lose your best receiver, it's obviously a major setback. But rather than having this become a major problem, we decided it was best to shut Jimmy down for a month and get him back to 100 percent," Predators head coach Jay Gruden said. "In retrospect, this was a move we probably should have made after the Tampa game, but because we had nine days between games, we were hopeful that he would have had time to get it healthy."
Fryzel caught 10 passes for 107 yards and a touchdown in the season opener, but was held to two catches for 18 yards last week. To make up for the loss, the Predators signed WR/LB Jerrian James off their practice squad. James played the last two seasons for the Predators. Last season, he caught 69 passes for 882 yards and 14 touchdowns to go with 1310 return yards. He also had 60 tackles on defense with four forced fumbles, four fumble recoveries and an interception on defense.
With the emergence of second year wide receivers DeAndrew Rubin and Javarus Dudley, combined with the new free substitution rules and salary cap issues, the Predators released James at the end of training camp. He was signed to the Orlando practice squad last week.
The Fryzel injury was the second starter Orlando has lost this season. Lineman Jim Sodano ruptured his patella tendon in the second play of Monday's Los Angeles game and is lost for the season. The Predators return to action Friday night at Hummer Field, where they will take on the Austin Wranglers. Tickets are available by calling 407-44-PREDS.
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