UVA Injury Report: Antonio Clary Undergoing Surgery, Tony Muskett Progressing

See injury updates on Antonio Clary, Tony Muskett, and a few other injured Cavaliers ahead of Friday's game against NC State

Virginia head coach Tony Elliott provided some notable injury updates on his team ahead of Friday night's ACC opener against NC State. 

Most notably, fifth year safety Antonio Clary is undergoing surgery on his ankle and is expected to miss six weeks. Clary, who missed the first three games of the season with an ankle sprain suffered during fall camp, had a few different options but has opted to get the surgery. It's unclear at this point if he'll play again this season. 

"Antonio Clary decided to go ahead and have surgery on the ankle," Elliott said in his press conference on Tuesday. "That was one of the three recommendations. He could rest it a little while. He could have tight rope surgery, which would have gave him the ability to play now, but it would only be kind of a placeholder for the long-term surgery. So he decided to go ahead and get it fixed, which I think is the right decision. Hoping that it'd be about six weeks and we can get him back late in the season and maybe take advantage of a couple of games late in the season." 

On Virginia's ongoing quarterback situation, Elliott reported that Tony Muskett is making progress, but he is still day-to-day and it's unclear if he'll be ready to play on Friday. Muskett went down with a left shoulder injury in the season opener against Tennessee and has not played in either of UVA's two games since then. True freshman Anthony Colandrea started both of those games and has played well. Muskett was technically available for those games, but only in an emergency capacity. Elliott says Muskett has progressed beyond that point. 

"I have seen improvement that makes me think that he's beyond emergency duty," Elliott said of Muskett. "Still working through some of the other things and milestones and hurdles that I want to see him finish a practice without having any noticeable grimaces because he's still got some pain involved and some soreness... I definitely think he's progressed beyond emergency status. It's still day-to-day and he's improving a ton and he wants to play and he's trying to prove that every day at practice." 

The most surprising story to come out of Elliott's press conference is that senior wide receiver Demick Starling will redshirt this season and Elliott says he does not expect Starling will play for Virginia next season. 

"We've gone back and forth a little bit throughout the course of our time, but we've mutually agreed that he wants to take advantage of the redshirt year and we're gonna support him academically," Elliott said of Starling. "See - can we help him graduate from the University of Virginia and then he can figure out from there what his future looks like with football."

Starling appeared in Virginia's first two games against Tennessee and JMU, but did not record a catch this season. An accomplished sprinter, Starling also competed for the UVA track & field team last spring. It's unclear at this point if Starling will enter the transfer portal at the end of the season. 

Elliott provided updates on a few other injured Cavaliers. Junior linebacker Lex Long will not be available for the NC State game after suffering a foot injury against Maryland. Elliott said they are waiting for the results of an MRI on Long's foot. On the defensive line, graduate defensive end Paul Akere is day-to-day with a knee injury and fifth year defensive end Ben Smiley is currently in concussion protocol, but Elliott is hopeful that UVA will get Smiley back this week. 

Graduate offensive tackle Jimmy Christ is still not listed on this week's depth chart, but Elliott says he is "full go" in practice and cleared to play. When fully healthy, Christ is expected to play a significant role at tackle for UVA's offensive line. 

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