Hokies Practice Report: Johnny Garrett Stepped Up When Number Called, Plus Injury Updates

Hokies left tackle Johnny Garrett played more snaps last Saturday (70) than he had in his career to that point (68). (Ivan Morozov)

Some fast action was required when Hokies starting left tackle Xavier Chaplin went down on the second play at Old Dominion, re-aggravating a leg/ankle injury sustained in warmups.

Johnny Garrett was going into the game, but first Virginia Tech had to get him in the right uniform. The redshirt sophomore had one on with an alternate number, presumably one that made him an eligible receiver, with the plan for him to go in for different packages the offense had cooked up. That had to change — and quickly.

“I had a pit crew trying to rip one jersey up, get the other one on,” said Garrett, who eventually got into his usual No. 79 sans nameplate, since it was stitched on his alternate jersey. “So I was spinning a little bit on that first drive, but once I settled in, I thought I played pretty well.”

That seems to be the consensus about Garrett, who got his most significant action to date at ODU, playing 70 snaps at left tackle and earning a respectable 60.2 grade on Pro Football Focus. He’d played only 67 total snaps during his first two years.

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