The Miami Hurricanes are playing the biggest game of their season on Saturday in South Bend against Notre Dame.
They’re doing it without injured superstar wide receiver Malachi Toney, who was putting together a legitimate Heisman Trophy case before getting hurt.
Miami is just hoping at this point that Toney’s season isn’t over, but even that isn’t totally for certain.
Here’s what is known heading into Saturday’s Miami-Notre Dame game about what’s next for Toney.
How Long is Malachi Toney Out?
Toney is expected to be out through the rest of the regular season, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel in a post on X on Wednesday.
The Miami superstar wide receiver has a “high ankle sprain,” per Thamel, and was going to have surgery.
Thamel wrote that the timeline on such a return is “typically at least four weeks.”
The regular season ends on Nov. 28, which is only three weeks from this Saturday.
In other words, not enough time for Toney to get back for any regular season contests.
Is Malachi Toney Out For The Season?
The hope for Miami will be that Toney gets healthy enough to play in the College Football Playoff.
He’s not lined up to play any more in the regular season, but as long as the Hurricanes get into the CFP, the timeline established by Thamel above would give him a chance to return in the postseason.
What Happened to Malachi Toney?
Toney was apparently hurt during Wednesday’s practice for Miami.
He’s believed to have battled ankle issues throughout this season, but evidently, this was worse than whatever he had been dealing with.
Toney’s injury was bad enough that he underwent a procedure called tightrope ankle surgery, which is meant to be minimally invasive and accelerate recovery time.
Still, Toney’s return will be something that every Miami fan will be clinging to with fingers crossed — because given the way this injury felt like it popped up out of nowhere, the Hurricanes won’t take anything for granted about the idea of Toney hopefully returning to the field at some point this season.
How Long is Malachi Toney Out? Injury Return Timeline for Miami Star