Home Will sophomore wideout Lavel Davis Jr. see the field for Virginia this season?
Football

Will sophomore wideout Lavel Davis Jr. see the field for Virginia this season?

Chris Graham
Lavel Davis Jr.
Lavel Davis Jr. Photo courtesy Atlantic Coast Conference.

Bad news for those who were hoping that last year’s breakthrough wideout, Lavel Davis Jr., would make it back to the field for Virginia this fall.

“I don’t think he’s close. I think this is, if I’m looking after him like I do and will as my own son, it just doesn’t make sense,” UVA coach Bronco Mendenhall said Monday.

Davis, who averaged 25.8 yards per catch as a freshman in 2020, suffered a torn ACL in the spring, and at the time, it was stressed in a release from Virginia Athletics that the recovery time for the injury could have him back in action in November.

It’s now November.

I’d been hearing behind the scenes for a few weeks that it was looking less and less likely that Davis, a 6’7” sophomore, would be available this season.

The recovery time for an ACL tear is, when you look at it conservatively, closer to a year, in terms of getting a guy back on a football field – not just training, but running, stopping, cutting, taking hits.

“Doesn’t mean he’s not willing and trying hard, et cetera. It’s just the possible gain, which would be significant when we talk about the next three, but contextually and for him and his future, yeah, I don’t see that happening,” Mendenhall said.

“So, yeah, I’m not putting this in writing and saying this is the declaration of, but it doesn’t make a lot of sense to me today,” Mendenhall said.

Story by Chris Graham

Marketplace




Support AFP



Chris Graham

Chris Graham

Chris Graham is the founder and editor of Augusta Free Press. A 1994 alum of the University of Virginia, Chris is the author and co-author of seven books, including Poverty of Imagination, a memoir published in 2019. For his commentaries on news, sports and politics, go to his YouTube page, TikTok, BlueSky, or subscribe to Substack or his Street Knowledge podcast. Email Chris at [email protected].

Latest News

tyler jones uva football
Football

UVA Athletics is losing an important guy, Tyler Jones, to an ACC rival

baltimore orioles mlb
Baseball

MLB Today: O’s fall in getaway day matinee to D’backs

Jeremiah Jackson homered again, but Arizona relievers retired the final 11 Baltimore hitters in order, and the Diamondbacks scored three runs in the top of the 10th in an 8-5 win on Wednesday in Camden Yards.

waynesboro map
Local News

Waynesboro: Leaders make no-brainer move to support affordable housing

The #1 need in Waynesboro: affordable housing. Credit to Waynesboro City Council for voting Monday night to fill a funding gap from the Trump administration to get a $36 million affordable-housing project moving forward. One City Council member, before voting in favor of a resolution that will have the city kick in $500,000 toward the...

northern virginia
Politics

Podcast: What’s at stake in the April 21 redistricting referendum

chris graham uva basketball 2025
Etc.

Russini-gate: Are we making too much of how journalism is done?

uva football acc championship game
Football

UVA Football: A look at the roster, needs heading into the spring game

virginia 10-1 map
Politics

Analysis: Looking at turnout data to forecast the April 21 referendum