Tony Elliott: Virginia received 'encouraging' news on Perris Jones after scary injury vs. Louisville

During Thursday night’s game between Virginia and Louisville, Cavaliers running back Perris Jones suffered a scary injury and left the field on a stretcher as a result. He then headed to the hospital, and Tony Elliott provided a promising update in his postgame press conference.

Elliott said UVA received “encouraging” news on Jones’ condition from the hospital.

“We’re getting some encouraging news,” Elliott told reporters. “I know he’s in getting an MRI right now, but the news is encouraging. Before I make any public statement, I want to have all the facts and be accurate. I know that the initial reports that we’re getting are very encouraging, according to the medical staff.”

Jones caught a screen pass from UVA freshman quarterback Anthony Colandrea in the backfield, then ran upfield. That’s when he was met by a Louisville defender with a violent collision at the 42-yard line. Jones fumbled the football, but Virginia receiver Malik Washington picked it up and then ran 42 yards for a touchdown to put the Cavaliers up, 21-14.

The Louisville training staff immediately attended to Jones on the field once he was down. Play was stopped for several minutes as Virginia’s medical staff tended to him, and was taken to the hospital in Louisville, according to the ESPN broadcast.

As the trainers tended to Jones, the Virginia players locked arms as they held their collective breath. Elliott noted the nature of the moment and compared it to a similar moment at Boston College earlier this year.

Elliott was proud of the Cavaliers’ response, even if they came up short in the game itself.

“It’s a very, very difficult reality of the sport that we play that every play can end that way,” Elliott said. “You don’t wish that for anybody. I know one thing — PJ’s a tough young man. He lays it on the line every time he goes out there for this football team. Believing and praying that he’s going to have a full recovery, putting that in the Lord’s hands and I’m asking for that in advance and praying that’s going to be the case.

“We saw the same thing up at Boston College. The opposite. It was a reverse where their guy had to go out on a stretcher and nobody wants to see it. It’s tough to get back motivated. But the guys, I believe they responded. We just didn’t make a couple plays there at the end that we needed to make.”

Perris Jones is in his fifth season with UVA and is in the midst of his best year yet. He entered Saturday’s game with a career-high 386 yards and two touchdowns through nine games. Prior to his injury, Jones had three carries for seven yards as Louisville gutted out the 31-24 victory.

On3’s Wade Peery contributed to this report.