Virginia Tech Updates Media on Injuries

Virginia Tech confirms what Frank Beamer hinted to at ACC Kickoff, due to a medical condition senior offensive lineman Brent Benedict has elected to skip his final year of football. Brent will take a medical hardship and will remain on scholarship.

"Brent Benedict has been a great teammate at Virginia Tech, and we will miss his toughness," Tech head coach Frank Beamer said in a statement. "We wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors, and he will always be a Hokie."

In the same release, head athletic trainer Mike Goforth provided an initial injury report to media.

Woody Baron is still recovering from offseason right ankle surgery and is not in camp. We are exploring the possibility of a redshirt since he played as a true freshman last season.

If healthy, Baron would've been a part of Tech's two-deep at defensive tackle. Now the Hokies will have to identify another d-tackle before the season starts. Tech has some options, albeit inexperienced ones. Freshman Vinny Mihota enrolled early, junior transfer (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute) Wade Hansen got a good amount of reps during spring, and former Bethel standout, freshman Ricky Walker is enrolled.

Trey Edmunds will be full at practice on Monday with no restrictions. He is still working his way back from a broken leg suffered in the Virginia game eight months ago and back into football-specific movements.

The seems to jive with previous reports that Trey would be ready to go when camp opened. However, it seems like he needs to get back into a football groove.

Brandon Facyson is suffering from a right hip flexor and will be in blue (limited) on Monday. The stress reaction he suffered in the spring is cleared, and he will be full when the hip flexor clears.

Facyson's hip flexor issue is certainly something to monitor throughout camp. There's never a good injury, but defensive back is Tech's deepest position.

Kendrick Holland had left shoulder surgery on July 25 by Dr. Tony McPherron at LewisGale Montgomery Hospital. He will have a 6-8 month recovery time and will miss the season. He will take a redshirt season, and the hope is to have him full for the spring.

Holland is listed as 6-3, 188 which makes him one of Tech's biggest targets. There are a lot of fresh faces vying for playing time at an already deep position, but Holland may have been able to use his size to differentiate himself from the pack.

Demitri Knowles suffered a right ankle sprain in summer voluntary workouts and is not currently in camp. He is progressing well, and trainers do not anticipate any problems for the first game.

OK.

Devin Vandyke has a right lower leg stress fracture and will be out 6-8 weeks.

Devin Vandyke was one of the standouts of 2013 spring football, but has been limited with knee issues. He suffered a torn left ACL against Western Carolina last year and missed the remainder of the 2013 season. He was slowed by knee issues during the fall and redshirted in 2012. French wrote the following back in March about Devin.

Devin Vandyke also could fight for the starting job in the fall. Vandyke had a stellar 2013 spring game (he was my MVP), and has terrific instincts for being a free hitter at the mike spot. Unfortunately for Devin, his recovery from ACL surgery was delayed by an infection in the joint. That set back his timetable for return considerably, which could put his chance to be ready for the beginning of fall camp in jeopardy. I would have expected Vandyke to win the starting job if he was healthy.

And finally, the most intriguing news from the release...

Marshawn Williams had hernia surgery on July 25 and is expected to miss 3-6 weeks from the date of the surgery. He is questionable for the William & Mary game on August 30.

Immediately after I copied, pasted, and Tweeted the news from the injury report Williams responded to me.

@thekeyplay no I'm not— Marshawn Williams (@RunJuice42) August 4, 2014

@thekeyplay I'm good— Marshawn Williams (@RunJuice42) August 4, 2014

At this point, your guess is as good as mine.