Preds lose Fleming, activate two from IR
February 24, 2005 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Orlando Predators News Release
ORLANDO, Fla. (Feb. 23) -- The Orlando Predators suffered their first major setback of the 2005 season on the injury front, placing last year's "US Army Ironman of the Year" Cory Fleming on the injured reserve list with a hamstring injury.
By placing Fleming on injured reserve the Predators leading receiver with 24 receptions for 233 yards and a team-leading seven touchdowns will miss both Friday night's road game with the Chicago Rush and the March 6 game with the San Jose SaberCats. He will be eligible to return against the New Orleans VooDoo on March 13.
Fleming injured his hamstring in last week's 42-28 loss to the Dallas Desperados. In that game, he caught a season-low three passes for 24 yards and one touchdown.
"Hopefully, we'll get Cory back in two weeks," Orlando Predators Head Coach Jay Gruden said. "Hamstring injuries just require time to heal. Although it doesn't appear to be a serious injury, we don't want to take any chances by playing him when he's not 100 percent. It is a long season and we will need Cory down the stretch run."
The injury marks the third time Fleming has gone on the injured reserve list in his spectacular nine-year AFL career. In 2000, he missed the final four games of the regular season with a sprained foot. He also missed the first 11 games of the 2001 season after breaking his ankle in a pre-season game against Tampa Bay. Fleming set Orlando Predators single season records last year with 131 receptions for 8,533 yards and 33 touchdowns.
Fleming will be replaced in the line-up by rookie Justin Skaggs, who will be making his first career start at WR/LB. When Orlando has started the game on offense, Skaggs has started at WR/DB spot and is the third leading receiver on the team with 19 catches for 257 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
On Wednesday, the Predators also activated two players from injured reserve placing both FB/LB Marlon Moye-Moore and OS Jimmy Fryzel on the active roster.
For Moore, the team's leading rusher from a season ago, it represented the latest positive news following a devastating knee injury sustained last April 25 against Dallas. Moore, who rushed for 190 yards and six touchdowns in 2004, dislocated his knee and suffered severe ligament damage while scoring a touchdown on a net recovery during a kickoff. Trainer Kevin Mercuri called the injury potentially "career threatening" and estimated a 12-18 month recovery time. "Marlon worked so hard in the off-season in rehab. It is a real credit that he has made it back in less than 10 months," Mercuri said.
Fryzel, 23, is a former Central Florida star who caught 137 passes for 2,469 yards and 10 touchdowns for the Knights from 1999-2001. He was in training camps Miami and Chicago the last two seasons and also spent time on the practice squads of Atlanta, Tennessee and Chicago in 2003.
The Predators, 3-1 on the season, return to action on Friday night against the Chicago Rush, 2-2. The game will be televised locally on Sun Sports (formerly Sunshine Network) beginning at 8:30 p.m.
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