CHAPEL HILL
The injury that North Carolina quarterback T.J. Yates suffered Saturday is more serious than first diagnosed and he could be sidelined for six weeks.
A Magnetic Resonance Imaging test Sunday night revealed a small fracture in his left ankle. X-rays taken late Saturday afternoon after he was injured in a game against Virginia Tech at Kenan Stadium showed no breaks and he was thought to have suffered only a sprained ankle.
Yates is wearing a protective boot on his left foot that runs almost to his knee and that is designed to take pressure off the ankle. He is walking with the aid of crutches. He will not need surgery but will receive medical treatment and undergo rehabilitation before being reevaluated in six weeks.
The injury will force UNC, 2-1, to prepare backup quarterbacks Mike Paulus and Cam Sexton this week for one to start in Saturday's game at Miami.
Yates learned about 8:30 p.m. Sunday in a call from Dr. Tim Taft, the director of UNC Sports Medicine, that the his ankle was broken.
"I was definitely surprised," Yates said. "The more time that passed, I thought that it was going to be fine. I could tell something, though, because just walking around or trying to, at least, I knew something was wrong or something more serious than an ankle sprain.
"I was surprised and upset. I was really disappointed but these things happen."
If Yates needs the six weeks to recover he would be able to return for the final four games of the season, starting on Nov. 8 against Georgia Tech at home. Yates said that he hasn't projected a time to return.
The UNC football team was trying to adjust quickly yesterday to playing without Yates in its first ACC road game of the season.
Mark Paschal, a linebacker, heard Sunday night that Yates had broken his ankle and didn't want to believe the report. He thought that Yates' ankle was only sprained. Kyle Jolly, an offensive tackle, didn't find out about Yates until late yesterday morning and said he was trying to cope with the loss.
"He's one of my best friends in the entire world," Paschal said. "It breaks my heart to have to hear what he's going through. I just wish him a speedy recovery and his family well."
Yates has started UNC's last 15 games. His absence will mean that Coach Butch Davis and John Shoop, the offensive coordinator, will have to get ready a replacement with minimal experience for Miami.
Paulus is a redshirt freshman. He was the quarterback to which UNC turned Saturday after Yates was injured. He played the last five offensive possessions and completed three of eight passes for 23 yards. He was intercepted twice.
His only other experience came in late mop-up duty in a 44-12 win at Rutgers two weeks ago.
Sexton, a junior, hasn't played since the 2007 season-opening game, when he relieved Yates in the fourth quarter of a win against James Madison.
He does have some experience, however. As a redshirt freshman in the 2006 season under John Bunting, the previous coach, he started five games and played in seven. One of the games in which he started was at Miami, a 27-7 loss.
Sexton completed nine of 28 passes for 136 yards against Miami. He had no touchdown passes and was intercepted twice. In his career Sexton has completed 58 passes in 137 attempts for 42.3-percent accuracy. He has four touchdown passes and has been intercepted eight times. He has 849 yards passing.
Paulus has the stronger passing arm of the two. Sexton has stayed at UNC despite dropping down the depth chart because he believes he can lead the team if given the chance.
Davis said that several factors will be examined before deciding which player will start.
"Certainly part of it is going to be looking at Miami and looking at their defensive scheme, the things that we think it's going to take to give us a chance to win the game," Davis said. "We'll ascertain that. I don't think we will deviate our offense. We are who we are."
Davis said that the quarterback who starts at Miami will be the player that he believes will give UNC the best shot at winning and avoiding a 0-2 ACC record.
"There's a lot more new things to Mike than maybe to Cam," Davis said. "It'll be interesting to see how these two guys handle this."
■ Bill Cole can be reached at bcole@wsjournal.com.
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