Kyle Tucker of the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot has an update on four Virginia Tech Hokies who were injured during Wednesday's scrimmage. Among them was starting mike linebacker Bruce Taylor, who "nicked" his shoulder and had an MRI Thursday.
Though we haven't heard official word on how Taylor's MRI looked, he appears to be relieved by the result. News isn't as good for his backup, Jack Tyler, who will miss the rest of spring drills with a bad lower back. That means most of the reps at mike will be to Barquell Rivers, who started at the position in 2009. Rivers missed nearly all of 2010 with a torn quad, but returned for the bowl game.
The other injuries were to backup defensive tackle Dwight Tucker, who suffered a high ankle sprain, and third-string quarterback Ricardo Young, who sprained his foot. Young tweeted defensive end James Gayle may have had a hand in the injury.
Another former starter who missed most of 2010 with an injury, Kwamaine Battle, will be the beneficiary of Dwight Tucker's injury, writes Kyle Tucker. Battle tore his ACL against James Madison and missed the rest of the season. The coaches said coming into spring he still has some conditioning work to do before getting back into his form from last season.
Fortunately for the Hokies, none of the injuries from Wednesday appear to be terribly serious. I'm interested to see if they let Taylor return to practice or if they sit him the rest of the way as a precaution. If he sits, I think that pretty much guarantees the battle for the starting mike spot will go deep into the fall unless someone changes positions.