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Virginia Football Injury Report: Cypress, Kemp, Fields, and More

Originally posted on FanNation Cavaliers Now
By Matt Newton | Last updated 10/4/22

Ahead of Virginia's matchup with Louisville on Saturday, UVA head coach Tony Elliott provided status updates on several injured Cavaliers.

Beginning with veteran slot receiver Billy Kemp IV, Tony Elliott does not anticipate Kemp will be available for the game against Louisville. Kemp returned to the field against Duke after missing the previous two games with an illness. He touched the ball three times on Virginia's first possession, but went down with an ankle injury and did not return to the game.

"Billy's more likely not going to be able to go this week," Elliott said in his weekly press conference on Tuesday. Elliott indicated that junior Demick Starling as well as sophomore Ethan Davies and freshman Sean Wilson - new additions to UVA's depth chart this week - will have opportunities to step up to supplement Virginia's receiving corps moving forward without the services of Kemp.

While Virginia does not expect to have Billy Kemp back this weekend, the Cavaliers do expect junior cornerback Fentrell Cypress II and sophomore defensive lineman Jonathan Horton to be available against Louisville.

An illness held Cypress out of Saturday night's game at Duke, while Horton went down with an injury during the Duke game while on special teams.

"Both of them are back this week," Elliott said of Cypress and Horton. "Horton - they had to take him and get some x-rays, x-rays were good. He practiced yesterday, he'll practice today... Fentrell was a sickness that came up late in the week, but we feel like he'll be ready to go this week."

Elliott was also asked about sophomore wide receiver Malachi Fields, who has missed this entire season so far with a foot fracture he suffered over the summer.

"I'm hopeful, but still no timetable," Elliott said of Fields' potential return this season. "But I'm encouraged just seeing him walk around and he started to progress to the next phase of his rehab, doing a little bit of running."

Elliott was impressed during the offseason by the play of Fields, who recorded a touchdown during the spring game.

"Definitely would love to get him back because in the spring I was talking about him a lot and he was really making strides," Elliott said. "And that's a big 6'4", 220-pound guy that you can do a lot of things with."

The possibility remains that Fields could return at some point this season, giving UVA another option at receiver, but Elliott says they will not hurry his rehab process.

"So we won't rush it, we won't force it. We're going to do what's best for him in his recovery. But if it gets to a point where the doctors say they're gonna turn him loose and we'd love to get him going - and I think he's eager to - but he'd be a guy that I'd have to make sure because I mean he's a heavy guy, you're talking about fracturing the foot, you know, he's a 220-pound guy. You don't want to rush that."

Elliott did not have an update on senior defensive back Coen King, who has played in just one game so far this season. King missed the first two games with an elbow injury, started against ODU, and then missed the last two weeks with a sprained MCL that is likely to hold him out for at least another couple of weeks. King is not listed on the depth chart for the game against Louisville.

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