Making the morning rounds…

• No, he’s back. He’s just not, you know, back. Boston College linebacker Mark Herzlich missed his second straight day of practice Tuesday for MRIs on a foot injury that the Boston Herald said is believed to be “a small stress fracture.” The injury is in Herzlich’s right foot, and he’s confident it has nothing to do whatsoever with the cancer in his left leg that forced him to miss all of last season. But he still hasn’t hit anyone since returning to the team in the spring with a clean bill of health. [Boston Herald]

• Even his heart is too fast. Elsewhere in scary-sounding health news that doesn’t seem to have interested parties all that freaked out: Florida running back/receiver Chris Rainey’s absence from the Gators’ first practices was attributed to an irregular heartbeat. The senior speedster underwent what coach Urban Meyer described as “a little procedure” to correct the issue – which, given Meyer’s dogged approach to various thoracic maladies, could include anything from a doctor listening with a stethoscope to replacing all of Rainey’s blood with a more efficient synthetic derived from extraterrestrial test subjects. Rainey is expected back at practice today or Thursday. [Miami Herald]

• Condolences. Bill Phillips Sr., one of five people killed in the Alaska plane crash that also claimed former U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens on Monday night, is father to three major college football players: Indiana tight end Paul Phillips, Stanford guard Andrew Phillips and Virginia tight end Colter Phillips. Their brother Willy was one of four survivors of the crash. [Associated Press]

• Probin’. Former North Carolina defensive tackle Cam Thomas (now beginning his rookie season with the San Diego Chargers) said Tuesday that former UNC teammate Kentwan Balmer (entering his third year with the San Francisco 49ers) picked up the bill for Thomas and another Tar Heel defensive lineman, Marvin Austin, to travel and train at Proactive Sports and Performance in California before the 2009 season. Proactive is the gym owned by Balmer’s agent, Gary Wichard, whose relationship with UNC defensive line coach John Blake is reportedly one of the main focuses of the NCAA’s ongoing investigation at Carolina. [Charlotte News & Observer]

At the same time, the probe into the infamous South Beach party that first piqued the NCAA’s interest via Marvin Austin’s Twitter feed continues to wind along: The NCAA will be back at South Carolina this week for a second round of questions with USC tight end Weslye Saunders, one of who knows how many potential draft picks accompanied Austin on the trip. [The State]

• I guess that makes it a curse upon all of you. I led Monday with Boise State’s first appearance on a Sports Illustrated cover, as part of the regional cover series for the magazine’s annual college football preview. SI’s other choices are slightly more familiar with the honor:

The blue turf for Boise was a nice detail, especially since they got rid of that annoying glare. [Orlando Sentinel]

Quickly… A pair of Florida State reserves, defensive tackle Moses McCray and running back Tavares Pressley, are out for the season with ACL injuries. … West Virginia reports an equipment-related violation to the NCAA. … Charlie Strong books a hotel for Louisville’s first training camp. … Senior John Chiles, once a coveted quarterback signee at Texas, has made his peace with playing wide receiver. … Up close, Nebraska’s quarterback derby is looking “intense.” … USC cornerback Shareece Wright enjoyed the community service work he was assigned after pleading no contest to disturbing the peace. … Trojan freshmen Dillon Baxter and Markeith Ambles won’t miss another bed check. … Twenty-six colleges and universities nationally will be fielding football teams for the first time this fall. … And behold the pinnacle of the preseason puff piece: The existence of backup of quarterbacks has been confirmed at Ohio State and Alabama.

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Matt Hinton is on Twitter: Follow him @DrSaturday.

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