clock menu more-arrow no yes

Filed under:

Wake Forest Football Injury Updates for FSU

By Riley Johnston
Presswire

According to Dan Collins' most recent article here, Nikita Whitlock still hasn't practiced this week, but Coach Grobe did say that if he was healthy on Saturday then he would play. This is a far cry from most weeks where if you don't practice then you don't play, but Nikita Whitlock is no ordinary player for this football team.

The other guys that are being looked at are Zach Thompson, Devin Bolling, Steven Chase, and Kevin Johnson, all of whom have had injuries of some sort in the past couple of weeks that have resulted in a loss of playing time. After the jump we will briefly update each one of their statuses with some personal commentary on it.

No doubt a lot of this will be cleared up by Coach Grobe tonight in his weekly radio show, so take what I'm writing with a grain of salt.

Click through the jump for Wake injury updats.

Zach Thompson (DE), Injury- Poked eye in Liberty game.

  • Missed the UNC game because of extreme discomfort in his eye as a result of the Liberty game.
  • According to Grobie, Thompson has been "given the green light"
  • This will help the Deacs a lot, especially if Nikita can't go because it will allow the d-line to move around Tylor Harris, Godpower Offor and Hasan Hazime a little bit. Once both guys get healthy I think the defensive line will be a real plus for this team overall.
Devin Bolling (LT), Injury- Strained Patella Tendon
  • I haven't heard much about Bolling in any updates. The most recent one on Twitter came from September 8th where he was in uniform but he was listed as "doubtful" and wound up missing the UNC game completely.
  • It would be nice if Wake could get Devin back, especially with the lack of depth/experience on the offensive line. The line did alright last Saturday in the pass block but has a long way to go in the run game. This will be especially important on Saturday vs. FSU
Kevin Johnson (CB), Injury- Minor concussion sustained against UNC
  • This is from his own Twitter account posted last night.:
  • Obviously crucial for the Deacs as KJ is the 2nd cornerback and will figure to be a crucial part of shutting down the FSU passing game. KJ seemed fine after the hit and was seemingly kept out of the rest of the game as a precautionary measure as opposed to something more severe.
Steven Chase (OL) Injury- Torn ACL
  • Once again, it was reported yesterday by Dan Collins that Chase was back on the field and doing some of the drills with a brace on his knee. The meniscus that was torn has been repaired, which will help with some of the jarring moves that are expected of offensive linemen (the meniscus serves as a cushion between two bones and prevents pain by the bones/joints rubbing together).
  • Grobe said that it would be up to Chase as to whether or not he can play this year or needs to shut it down and go ahead and have the surgery. Since Chase has already red-shirted there is some obvious concern over losing a year if the medical redshirt is not achieved. Since they can't find out about that until after the season in all likelihood, it would be taking a blind shot as to whether or not he would get the year back.
  • Either way I think that Chase needs to do the smart thing, think about his future, and go ahead and have the surgery. I'm not a doctor and have no idea as to the extent of the injury, so if he is medically cleared then by all means go ahead and try to play. In these cases you usually want the doctors and staff to step in and make sure he is doing the intelligent thing. Football is just a game and he has the rest of his life ahead of him, so I think that's something that should be taken into consideration.
I think everybody else is pretty much cleared and ready to go in Tallahassee on Saturday. The biggest question mark is obviously Nikita and that seems to be a game-time decision at this juncture. It will all rest on Nikita and whether or not he thinks he can go. If not then it would be a big loss for the Deacs, but could prove to be a blessing in disguise if he comes back next week/the rest of the season and has no more lingering problems.

Earlier in the UNC game he was favoring his hamstring and that is why he came out initially before the ankle injury. I am in the camp that the Deacs just rest him on Saturday (and potentially against Army too) to get him ready for the key stretch of the schedule. It's a long year and while I'm not trying to be a Debbie Downer or a NostraDUMBASS, I think the next two weeks are about as sure of a loss and a win as we have on the schedule.

Tune into the Jim Grobe radio show tonight at 7 to listen to key updates and thoughts on the FSU game on Saturday. We here at BSD also plan on doing a short podcast that will be up later tonight/tomorrow that talks about the FSU game and the Notre Dame to the ACC move.