The big news coming out of Blacksburg yesterday, other than the start of fall practice, is the news that cornerback Antone Exum will be out for at least two more months rehabbing his knee.
This means that Exum will miss the Alabama game, and it’s up in the air whether he will return soon after that. Here are the media reports on Exum, with more detail:
- Exum will miss Tech’s early games — Richmond Times-Dispatch
- Exum out for two months — Roanoke Times
Note that the reports say that Exum’s knee will be tested again by orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews in two months. (It was Andrews who recommended one and a half to two more months of rehab.) So for the next two months, there isn’t any hope that Exum will come along faster, or be reinstated, or that something will happen to move his schedule up. He’s going to continue rehab for the next couple of months, then be retested.
Among all the quotes from trainer Mike Goforth, head coach Frank Beamer and others about how disappointing this is for Exum, there’s a noteworthy quote from defensive coordinator Bud Foster from Mike Barber’s RT-D article:
Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster said he’s more concerned with getting Exum back in time for Atlantic Coast Conference play.
“We’re looking for him for the long haul,” Foster said Monday before practice. “The first game, yeah it’s a big game. But that’s not going to make or break our season. It’s the rest of the year that’s going to do that. …
“We’ve also got 11 other games after that. We’ve got a conference championship to play for, hopefully. That’s my big focus for him.”
That quote lays out where the Virginia Tech coaching staff stands on Exum in particular and the Alabama game in general. It’s a big game, and it’s a great opportunity, but the main focus is getting back to winning conference championships.
As for the Alabama game, with Exum out, the Hokies will rely on Donaldven Manning (#30, So., 5-10, 181) and true freshman Brandon Facyson (#31, Fr., 6-2, 188) at the field corner spot. They were listed as co-#1 in the depth chart circulated by VT Sports Information at yesterday’s practice.
With true freshman Kendall Fuller (#11, Fr., 5-11, 193) listed as the #1 nickel back, look for Alabama to attack the young corners at Exum’s spot and Fuller at the nickel spot when the two teams meet August 31st in the Georgia Dome (5:30, ESPN). The pressure will be on Virginia Tech’s experienced defensive line and interior linebackers to make it hard for the Crimson Tide to go after Fuller and the corners.
Print
On track to be cleared GT week, practice full during the bye and be back for UNC! Get healthy X!!!
No sense his playing in Marshall game, then GT on 5 days “rest.” Then he’ll have 9 days “rest” to next game. By then he should be good to go.
He is prolly not needed for ‘Bama game. He would prolly not affect outcome of game unless it was an INT for a TD, which is unlikely especially if he’s less than 100%. So keeping him out of action and potential re-injury is wise. Good strengthening actually helps prevent injury.
My money says he goes not see significant PT this year; so unless he gets a medical hardship waver from the NCAA, his Tech days are pretty much done, which is a real shame — a tremendous individual
He’ll be back, even if it’s not until the second half of the season. Lots of football to be played!
My concern is like yours, that even when he does return, he’s never really going to be a hundred percent, at least not until the bowl game (after a month off).
And he didn’t even do it playing football. It happened playing basketball. What a shame.
Basketball sucks! One of my favorite saying is “Football players play football”, followed closely by “Football players don’t play basketball!” Basketball sucks!
I don’t think Medical hardship can happen he didn’t redshirt because of a injury.
People need to remember that Adrian Peterson and RGIII are not the norm. Usually it takes a full year to rehad from a torn ACL. If he’s lucky, maybe he can play a few games at the end of the season, and then be “100% healthy” for a bowl game. That could be enough to at least get him on some teams’ draft boards.
And they didn’t have classes to attend while trying to get better….great point.
Technically RGIII has not returned successfully yet.
Actually 1 year is old school rehab for ACL tear. What determines rehab time is extent of injury and whether other parts of the knee were damaged; and of course an individual’s recovery ability. The technology for rebuild of ACL have changed. Rehab can take up to a year or more, but some ACL tears can take as little as 6 months for clearance to resume all activity.