CHAPEL HILL — Couple quick tidbits to pass along from North Carolina’s open portion of practice earlier this morning: First, T.J. Thorpe, the sophomore receiver who led the ACC in kickoff returns a season ago, watched practice on crutches, his broken foot in a boot.

Thorpe suffered the injury during practice on Sunday, a source close to the team confirmed on Monday night. It’s unclear how long he might be out, but any time he misses would be significant given the role he was expected to play both on special teams and in the Tar Heels’ new spread offense.