Virginia Tech Punter A.J. Hughes Tweets He'll Have Back Surgery

Virginia Tech punter A.J. Hughes tweeted this evening that he will have back surgery. Virginia Tech confirms Hughes is having surgery to take place in Indiana to repair a slight disc herniation in his lower back. He played through said injury the season. He is expected back full for the spring.

Huge shoutout to my All-American LongSnapper @EDantuono for being put on scholarship today!!! You earned it man so happy for u nd ur family

— AJ Hughes (@AJ_HughesVT) January 12, 2015

this Wed. Looking forward to finally getting back to 100% and getting back to my normal bomb dropping self. Keep me in ur prayers #Hokies

— AJ Hughes (@AJ_HughesVT) January 13, 2015

Welp, kicked throu it all season but unfortunately it's kicking back.. So it's in my best interest to go under the knife for back surgery

— AJ Hughes (@AJ_HughesVT) January 13, 2015

Minor Set Back for an Even Bigger Come Back #LastAtBat #PunterSwag #HokieNation

— AJ Hughes (@AJ_HughesVT) January 13, 2015

Hughes has been Tech's primary punter since his freshman season in 2012. Both the ACC's media and coaches selected him to their respective all-conference teams in 2013. Even though his punt distance was down (through November), the fourth down captain helped Tech improve its field position by two yards in 2014. Hughes has also accounted for 5 tackles over his career, none bigger than his momentum shifting forced fumble against Miami in 2013.

Hughes' #PunterSwag can not be quantified.

@thekeyplay in the name of Barney Stinson "Challenge Excepted" #WhatDidYouDoToday #AwesomedAllOverThePlace

A video posted by AJ Hughes (@aj_hughesvt) on Jan 9, 2015 at 4:33pm PST