UVA Football coach Tony Elliott met with reporters for the final time in training camp on Monday, with the focus by midweek about to shift to the Week 0 season opener with NC State on Saturday, Aug. 29 – 12 days away, at this writing.
Chief on my mind as camp winds down: injury and availability reports.
Kam time
First point of focus: the status of Kam Robinson, the preseason first-team All-ACC linebacker who is being eased back into the thick of things after surgery to repair a torn ACL suffered in November.
Elliott thinks Robinson (2025: 416 snaps, 64 tackles, two INTs, one PBU, nine QB pressures, two sacks) will be ready for the season opener.
“We’ll be smart,” the coach said. “I mean, in the progression, he’s now introduced back into all of individual drills, seven-on-seven drills. He was back out there today. He’ll be in that capacity going through the off day and then come back. He’ll be able to jump in and do some contact stuff.”
From there, it’s basically Robinson’s read of his “comfort level, how he feels when we get there. But I think from just a medical progression, we’re on track, but that doesn’t guarantee. But it does leave the possibility that yeah, it could happen.”
Holmes/Moore
Next up: grad student D linemen Jacob Holmes (2025: 432 snaps, 27 QB pressures, three sacks, 18 run-game tackles) and Cazeem Moore (2025: 256 snaps, 16 QB pressures, three sacks, eight run-game tackles), who are still question marks not from a health standpoint, but eligibility.
Both are being integrated back into football activities in the wake of a federal court ruling last month granting student-athletes from the high school class of 2022 whose eligibility expired in the 2025-2026 academic sports year an extra year of eligibility.
“Really just waiting on the guidance from the administration and the NCAA as to what they can do in terms of competition on Saturday the 29th. But right now, we’re getting them prepared,” Elliott said.
In terms of their physical readiness, given that neither went through winter conditioning, spring practice, summer conditioning, and were late to training camp:
“I think they’re in as good a shape as can be expected from the situation that they came out of,” Elliott said. “They’re getting better every single day. Now they’re through their acclimatization period, so the next time we’re in full pads, they can go full pads, which will be a good step for them. But I’m pleased. And the good thing is they’re not noticeable, which is a good thing. You would think that coming off the street, they’d be noticeable, but both guys have done a good job so far.”
Quick hits
- Offensive lineman Kevin Wigenton (2025: 254 snaps) had petitioned the NCAA for an extra year of eligibility, but Elliott said “unfortunately, I was told that it was denied on Big Wiggy, so, I hate that for him.”
- O lineman Grant Ellinger (2025: 45 snaps): “We got good news that it wasn’t the ACL on his knee. He’ll be back in a couple of weeks. We’ll get him back.”
- D lineman Jason Hammond (2025: 360 snaps, 18 QB pressures, three sacks, 28 run-game tackles): “He’s always had a hip deal, so he gets an injection every once in a while. That’s down a day, back the next day, so he’ll be back in practice tomorrow.”
- D lineman Ezekiel Larry (2025: 577 snaps, 46 QB pressures, 10 sacks, 31 run-game tackles): “I think he’s trending ahead of schedule, so we’re hopeful that you know by the end of September we can have him back rolling.” Not sure what the issue is there, but Larry was projected to be an impact guy.
- Safety Corey Costner (2025: 260 snaps, 28 tackles, 9 catches/16 targets, two INTs, one PBU) is “tracking what we thought with his injection.” All I know about whatever his issue is supposed to be is, it’s “nagging.”
- Wideout: Rico Flores Jr. (hamstring; 2025: 26 catches/37 targets, 274 yards) and Da’Shawn Martin (unspecified; 2025: 33 catches/48 targets, 507 yards) have had to miss time in camp, but Elliott said today they’re all good, just “have to make up a little bit of ground.”
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