Charles Woods Nearing Return to the Field

The Mountaineer secondary is about to get a major boost.

West Virginia's defense has underperformed through the first five games of the season and much of that can be attributed to the absence of cornerback Charles Woods, who many on the coaching staff deem to be the best defensive player on the roster.

Woods went down in the season opener at Pitt with an ankle injury that would require surgery, sidelining him for each of the last four games. He won't be returning to action this week, but he is inching closer to hitting the field again. 

During Monday's press conference, head coach Neal Brown said that Woods "is probably a week out" from returning. Tuesday evening on The Neal Brown Show, he admitted that he jumped the gun a little bit.

"I think I probably got a little ahead of myself when I said maybe by Texas Tech, but I don't know how high of probability [that is]. He's getting closer and he'll be a significant add," said Brown. "Not only was he our best player in the secondary but he was also our emotional leader and he's also the guy that did the most communication, [and has] the most experience. When he comes back and he's healthy, we're going to be in a positon that we can do some things that we really planned on doing when we started the year."

In the meantime, West Virginia will continue to rely on Rashad Ajayi and Wesley McCormick at corner while rotating in some of the younger talent such as Jacolby Spells and Andrew Wilson-Lamp. Spells is the most known commodity of the young defensive backs thanks to his pick-six at Virginia Tech. However, Neal Brown wanted to point out the progress that Wilson-Lamp and starting safety Aubrey Burks have made thus far. 

"Aubrey Burks, everybody remembers the dropped interception but for all intents and purposes, he's a true sophomore. He only played in like six games last year because he got surgery and had to miss the rest of it. So, he's a redshirt freshman as far as playing. He's continuing to get better and I think he had a high ceiling. I thought Andrew Wilson-Lamp, that was the best football he's played. We continue to grow his role. I think he's somebody the more he plays the better he's going to be. Other than that, the pieces are the pieces. We just got to get the guys that we have, better."

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