Ahead of West Virginia’s game against Texas Tech, head coach Neal Brown addressed multiple injury concerns on his team.
Cornerback Wesley McCormick went down in the first quarter against Baylor on Thursday and Brown said he will be questionable for Saturday’s game.
“McCormick, probably questionable. We’ll see how he goes,” Brown said.
Another cornerback West Virginia has been awaiting the return of is Charles Woods. Woods broke his ankle during week one against Pitt. He would get surgery on the ankle and has worked his way back. Brown said the plan is for Woods to practice Tuesday and if he is able to play it won’t be at a full capacity.
“We’re going to practice Charles Woods some today and kind of know more,” Brown said. “Hopeful, I wouldn’t say any more than that yet. We’re going to practice him a little bit, if he does play it’ll be in a reduced role. By no means will it be every play.”
Another cornerback who went down in the second quarter last Thursday was Rashad Ajayi. Brown said he would expect Ajayi to play on Saturday in what is a thin secondary.
“We expect Rashad Ajayi to be back,” Brown said.
Another headline to keep track of is that of running back CJ Donaldson. Donaldson was carted off in West Virginia’s game against Texas on Oct. 1, and was diagnosed with a concussion. Brown said Donaldson will also practice Monday and if positives come from that he will play.
“CJ (Donaldson) will practice today and then if everything checks out he’ll be ready to go,” Brown said.
If Donaldson does play, Brown said they will have to see how he responds to live action as he has not been put in that type of a situation since going down against the Longhorns.
“He hasn’t had any contact and he hasn’t practiced with the team since the Texas game. There’s going to be a little rust there,” Brown said. “How we use him on Saturday, will depend how he does Tuesday and Wednesday.”
Brown said West Virginia was very cautious with their approach to the freshman’s injury, saying the depth they had at the position along with the severity of the injury meant they should take Donaldson’s recovery process slow.
“We purposely waited. He could’ve gotten through the concussion protocol quicker. I just didn’t feel like how that played out that Saturday night down in Austin, I just didn’t think [rushing him back] was the right thing to do,” Brown said. “We weren’t in a hurry, we got depth at the position. I thought it made more sense and our medical team thought it made more sense just to wait. He’ll practice today, he’ll practice tomorrow and how he performs will depend on how much we use him.”
Tight end Mike O’Laughlin will be out for the year with his third knee injury. O’Laughlin who has torn his ACL twice before, appears to have torn it again when West Virginia faced Texas.
“Mike O’Laughlin unfortunately out for the year. Will have surgery this week on a knee. He’ll be out for the year and really hurt for him,” Brown said. “It’s a tough deal, it’s the third time now. Feel for him, he was really playing at a high level.”
On the offensive line, Jordan White adds depth for the Mountaineers up front and Brown said he will play this week against the Red Raiders.
“Jordan White will be back,” Brown said. “He’s practiced and he’ll see action this week.”
Then on the flip side of the ball, defensive end Sean Martin also got injured against Baylor and Brown says they are going to have to wait and see until later in the week to determine his status.
“Sean Martin, know more probably after today and tomorrow,” Brown said. “I would put him in the hopeful to questionable deal. He’ll practice in a limited basis today and kind of know more.”
Photo by Aaron Parker
