Virginia Tech injury updates: Brent Pry offers latest on Week 5 status

Virginia Tech continues to move ahead with a number of key playmakers injured, particularly on offense. And ahead of an ACC showdown with Miami this weekend, head coach Brent Pry shared some updates on the array of injured players.

The two main injuries are to offensive playmakers: Running back Bhayshul Tuten and wideout Ali Jennings. Those two have made varying progress toward playing, Pry shared.

“Tuten looked better than he did last week at this time,” Pry said. “Ali I think is still a question. We’ve got a night game, I told him ‘Let’s just take it all the way to pregame and see how you’re feeling.'”

Along with Jennings, Pry is also taking a wait-and-see approach on linebacker Keli Lawson going into Saturday night.

“But I think he and Keli are still the two guys that are questions,” Pry said of Jennings and Lawson.

The Hokies are also banged up at linebacker, with a trio of players currently injured to varying degrees along with Lawson. Senior Will Johnson has been out for an extended period, and Jayden McDonald has also been banged up, as has George Ballance.

And some are closer to being back than others, Pry said.

“McDonald’s out, still,” Pry said. “George Ballance is, I wouldn’t say is 100% but he’s much closer than he was last week and then Keli’s questionable. So not a whole lot has changed. We’ve moved the needle a little bit with George. He doesn’t have the experience obviously, but he’s gotten a lot of work in practice playing the position.”

One other player, Xavier Chaplin, was carted off on Saturday before returning shortly thereafter, is doing quite well, Pry said.

“Standing there, he wanted to walk off, at that point,” Pry said. “He said, ‘I can get up and walk.’ And they were like, ‘Listen, let’s just, as a precaution, let’s put you on the cart, go X-ray it, make sure everything’s good, and bring you back. And so that’s what we did.”