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Ahead of Virginia's matchup with Georgia Tech on Thursday night, UVA head coach Tony Elliott provided status updates on several injured Cavaliers during his weekly press conference on Monday afternoon. 

Elliott noted that fifth-year slot receiver Billy Kemp IV is expected to play against Georgia Tech on Thursday after suffering an ankle injury early in the game against Duke. Kemp, who also missed the ODU and Syracuse games with an illness, was out for the remainder of the Duke game and missed last week's game against Louisville due to the ankle injury. He wore a limited-contact green jersey at practice on Monday, but is expected to be available for the Georgia Tech game.

On the other side of the ball, senior linebacker Nick Jackson was also in a limited-contact green jersey for Monday's practice as he continues to recover from a knee injury he suffered against Louisville. Elliott says Jackson should be able to play against Georgia Tech, but might not play his usual amount of snaps. Additionally, junior linebacker Josh Ahern, who has been the team's starter at the WILL linebacker position, will travel with the team to Atlanta, but is not expected to play due to an injury, according to Elliott. 

With UVA more thin at the linebacker spot than usual this week due to Ahern being out and Jackson not playing as many snaps, Elliott said junior Hunter Stewart and freshman Stevie Bracey will be asked to step up to pick up the slack. Bracey, a true freshman from Atlanta, made an appearance on this week's depth chart for the first time behind Jackson and D'Sean Perry at the MIKE linebacker spot. 

Senior defensive back Coen King played in the game against Louisville last week after missing the previous two games with a sprained MCL. He also missed the first two games of the season with an elbow injury before making his lone start of the season against Old Dominion. King is now listed on the depth chart behind Lex Long at the free safety spot. 

Another change on the defensive depth chart is that Olasunkonmi Agunloye is now listed as Jahmeer Carter's backup at nose tackle, jumping above Devontae Davis .

Virginia hopes to start the second half of the season on a high note as the Cavaliers search for their first ACC win of the season at Georgia Tech on Thursday at 7:30pm in Atlanta. 

This article first appeared on FanNation Cavaliers Now and was syndicated with permission.

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