Dabo Swinney provides final update before Virginia on injuries and more

Bryant Wesco has practiced this week after missing last week's game with an ankle injury.

Grayson Mann - Staff Writer - Wednesday, October 16 2024

Injury updates, coffee, and much more.

Dabo Swinney provided his final update before Saturday’s reunion with Tony Elliott and Virginia.

Here’s what we learned:

*On Tuesday, Swinney told the media he expects Collin Sadler and Stephiylan Green to suit up against the Cavaliers.

He provided an update on Bryant Wesco on Wednesday evening, stating that the freshman wideout is practicing and is “day-to-day.”

It is unclear if Wesco will play on Saturday.

*Swinney was asked about his assessment of the pass rush.

He says that he’d like to see the quarterback hits turn into sacks, emphasizing a quicker rush on Saturday to produce better situations for his defense. Overall, he is pleased with the efforts of the pass rush.

*He was asked about Avieon Terrell’s willingness to tackle, having made several plays within the ground game on defense.

“Yeah, we've got a few guys that have come through here that were very willing tacklers, but AV is, I mean, he's just been around it his whole life. He's got the mentality. I've seen a lot of big guys that won't tackle anybody, and I've seen some little guys that light you up. So I mean, it's a mindset, it's a mentality. And we're fortunate that we've got AV, and he's got the mindset to do whatever needs to be done at the position, whether it's physicality, whether it's coverage, ability, press zone, whatever it is that you need to be done at that position, he can do it. He's a gifted player, still developing player, but toughness and willingness, he's got a full tank in both of those areas.”

*Peter Woods told TigerNet on Saturday that the week of preparation against Wake Forest was the first time he’s felt like “himself.”

Swinney wants to see Woods continue to “stack days.” He believes that, with the open date approaching, this will be beneficial to his progress from injury.

*Swinney was asked about facing his former running back Kobe Pace. Here is his full answer.

“I love Kobe,” Swinney said. “He's one of my favorite dudes, man. He's just such a great spirit, great kid, tough competitive, loves to play, I mean, loves to play the game and I'm proud of him. I'm happy that he's been with good people, and he did some good things last year, but he's really set him in and given them a very, very strong physical presence in the run game. He's got good knowledge. He really understands the details of what they're doing. Fundamentally, you can tell he is just really growing and mature. He's just playing with a ton of confidence. So it's good to see him having success and pull for him every week, except this week I definitely won't be, but we got to make sure that we wrap up and tackle because he's a strong physical back, that one behind his pads, and so look forward to seeing him, but hopefully he doesn't have too good a game against the Tigers...that's my hope.”

*The Tigers' defense will be facing another big-body receiver in Malachi Fields, who leads the Cavaliers in both receptions (37) and yards (541).

Swinney says they will have their hands full on Saturday, knowing that the Cavalier offense is dependent on big plays off script, which Fields takes advantage of. He also stressed how much of a problem Anthony Colandrea is, who Swinney says is the key to the Cavalier offense.

*Swinney was asked about his wife Kathleen saying Monday on his radio show that he doesn't drink coffee but prefers hot chocolate. He said he has a decades-old bet with his father-in-law that he won't develop a taste for coffee, and he's holding to his word.