Virginia Defensive End Chico Bennett Sidelined With "Freak" Knee Injury

Tony Elliott says they are still evaluating Bennett's injury and there is no timetable yet for his return

A potentially massive blow was dealt to Virginia's defense this week as graduate defensive end Chico Bennett Jr. suffered a knee injury on Saturday. UVA head coach Tony Elliott was not able to provide information on the exact nature and severity of the injury, including a timetable for his return, but Bennett did not participate in Monday's practice and was seen using crutches. 

According to Elliott, Bennett made it through Saturday's scrimmage on Saturday, but then his knee "stiffened up" after practice ended. Elliott says they are still going through the process of scanning Bennett's knee, so he was unable to provide a timetable for his return. 

"Still going through the process of trying to get all of the information together - figure out exactly what it is," Elliott told the media after practice on Monday evening. "It was a freak deal. We're out at practice, finishing the scrimmage, [Chico] takes a knee and pops up and his knee stiffened up. So we're still trying to go through the scans and figure out exactly what it is, but I don't have a timetable yet cause we just started the scanning process this morning. So I'll be able to update you at a later date, but yeah I've never seen anything like it to be honest with you... Right now, it's just waiting on the doctors to tell us what it is." 

Bennett is expected to be one of, if not the best, defensive player on Virginia's roster this season. An All-ACC honorable mention in 2022, Bennett led the Cavaliers with seven sacks and also tallied 34 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss, four quarterback hurries, and two forced fumbles last season. He was named the ACC Defensive Lineman of the Week twice last fall. 

Virginia's defensive line will likely be the strongest unit on the team, with a wealth of experience and talent on both the edge and the interior. At defensive end in particular, Paul Akere, Ben Smiley III, and Kam Butler are expected to earn significant snaps this fall, and could be leaned on even more heavily if Bennett ends up missing time. 

There were a significant number of players who did not participate in Monday's practice, wearing yellow pinnies. That isn't to say that there are necessarily an abundance of serious injuries on the team, as players can wear limited participation pinnies or be held out of practice for any number of reasons. It is likely that several players missed Monday's practice for precautionary reasons as Saturday's scrimmage at Scott Stadium was the most physical practice of fall camp by far and yielded a number of short-term injuries for the Cavaliers. Notably, Malik Washington, McKale Boley, Cody Brown, Antonio Clary, Kobe Pace, Noah Josey, Jimmy Christ, and Davis Lane were wearing yellow pinnies and not participating, while Houston Curry, Ty Furnish, Stevie Bracey, Tayvonn Kyle, Jason Hammond, and Jonathan Horton wore green pinnies, indicating that they were limited participants in practice. Most of these players will likely return to full-participation status in practice by the end of the week. 

On Malik Washington, a transfer wide receiver from Northwester, Elliott said he "tweaked" his ankle in Saturday's scrimmage and isn't expected to miss significant time. Similarly, sophomore offensive tackle McKale Boley is currently out with an ankle sprain, but is expected to return this week.

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