UVA Football Week 9 Injury Report: James Jackson, Antonio Clary, Ty Furnish

Matt Newton | Oct 22, 2024

Virginia Athletics

Virginia left Clemson with a 48-31 loss and also sustained a few notable injuries. In his weekly press conference on Tuesday afternoon, UVA head coach Tony Elliott provided an exhaustive injury update on those banged up Cavaliers as well as status updates on a few other injured players from previous weeks heading into Virginia's week 9 matchup against North Carolina on Saturday at Scott Stadium.

Graduate safety Antonio Clary, who was Virginia's leader in tackles before going down with a knee injury in the Boston College game that has caused him to miss the last two games, but Tony Elliott reported that Clary practiced on Tuesday and he is "very hopeful" that Clary will be able to play against UNC on Saturday.

Virginia was also without another key defensive starter and veteran leader against Clemson in senior linebacker James Jackson. Elliott says Jackson is still nursing a foot injury, which is a "week-to-week type of situation." On this week's Virginia depth chart, Jackson and Cincinnati transfer Dorian Jones are both listed as potential starters at WILL linebacker. Neither Jones nor Jackson played in the Clemson game, as Jones was unavailable due to a family matter. Elliott says the Cavaliers will lean on Jones, Trey McDonald, and Kam Robinson to be the team's three main linebackers if Jackson is unable to play against North Carolina.

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On the other side of the ball, Virginia will likely be without starting right guard Ty Furnish, who went down with ankle injury in the Clemson game. Elliott says Furnish is unlikely to be available this week, so the Cavaliers will probably lean on Charlie Patterson, Ugonna Nnanna, and Jack Witmer to make up the slack.

Elliott confirmed that starting wide receiver Trell Harris underwent surgery last week to remove a minor bone fragment from his knee and that it'll be at least "three more weeks" before Harris could potentially return. This was not discussed at the presser, but at that point, Virginia might consider preserving the redshirt year of Harris, who has played in only three games this season.

Sophomore cornerback Dre Walker has also only played in three games this season, as he has been sidelined with a bone bruise since week 3. Elliott says Walker practiced today and he is "very, very hopeful" that Walker could make his return this weekend to replenish UVA's cornerback unit.

Senior nose tackle Mike Diatta and graduate cornerback Kempton Shine were both "banged up" in the Clemson game, but Elliott says both players practiced on Tuesday and both Diatta and Shine "should be good" for the UNC game.

After making his first two career starts at slot receiver against Boston College and Louisville, true freshman Kam Courtney did not play in the Clemson game with an undisclosed injury. Elliott says Courtney is "probably a little bit further away" from a return than some of the others like Clary and Walker. The Cavaliers got starting slot receiver Chris Tyree and sophomore receiver Suderian Harrison back from injury last week just in time for Courtney to go down with his injury.

Finally, junior running back Jack Griese will miss the UNC game with an injury, his fourth missed game in a row. He has been replaced on this week's depth chart by sophomore Noah Vaughn as the third running back behind Kobe Pace and Xavier Brown. Elliott did not elaborate on the nature or extent of Griese's injury.

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