The most important part of UVA Football coach Tony Elliott’s presser on Tuesday was the injury report.
That’s in part because, the injury report is always important, and then, this week, everything else was about Elliott going back to Clemson for the first time since taking the job at Virginia.
I get it, that Elliott going back to Clemson is a narrative, but, seriously, no questions in the presser about the red-zone offense, nothing about special teams?
Yeah, yeah, the pressers are open, I could be there.
I had a lawsuit about the 2024 election to write about.
That’s my excuse.
(Real reason I don’t do those things: they’re nowhere near serious as being true Q-and-A’s. It’s pure pure managed PR for UVA Football. I get that.)
I have digressed.
First update: McKale Boley
McKale Boley left the 24-20 loss to Louisville after 36 snaps.
The left tackle, who missed the first four games of the 2024 season due to a knee injury suffered in training camp, was back at practice on Tuesday, and Elliott said Boley should be “good to go” for Clemson on Saturday.
“Really was precautionary, just making sure that everything was good to go,” Elliott told reporters. “With them big guys, and them having knee braces out on the field, it’s hard to see structurally where they’re at. But he practiced today, so he should be good to go.”
Boley was dinged for two sacks on 16 pass dropbacks in the Louisville game.
That’s not good, as if you didn’t know that already.
Next: Antonio Clary
We really need Antonio Clary, the sixth-year safety.
The D was solid in the Louisville game, but Clary (44 tackles, one sack, six receptions on 13 targets, three pass breakups, one INT in 2024) is a difference-maker on the back end of the D.
“Clary’s pushing hard. I don’t know if this will be the week that we get Clary,” Elliott said.
So, there you go.
And then: Trell Harris
We could really use wideout Trell Harris (13 catches on 18 targets, 201 yards in three games).
Harris stretches the field, and is another good option in the red zone, where the offense tends to get bogged down.
Bad news.
“Trell will be down for a couple,” Elliott said. “Trell ended up deciding to have surgery, which was the right thing, just a small bone fragment that was in his knee. Kind of what happened to Chico (Bennett) last year, just something jarred loose, and had to go in and take it out. Fragment not quite as big as the one Chico had, but still, he’ll be down for a couple weeks.”
Finally: Chris Tyree
Chris Tyree, the Notre Dame transfer, hasn’t been as advertised (12 catches on 16 targets, 48 yards), but he’s still a guy that we can think of as being a good option in the slot.
“Tyree practiced today. He should be, he should be good to go,” Elliott said.
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