MORGANTOWN — There was injury news both good and bad as the West Virginia Mountaineers held their first of 15 fall practices Wednesday morning.
The good: running back CJ Donaldson, tight end Kole Taylor and safety Jaheem Joseph were all full participants on day one after either being limited or out entirely during spring camp.
The bad: underclassmen Corey McIntyre and Kyle Altuner will miss a large part of the season and linebacker Jairo Faverus and offensive lineman Maurice Hamilton will miss at least the entire year.
Donaldson, who missed WVU’s bowl game and spring camp after having offseason surgery, was full-go for the first time in several months. Taylor was held out of most of spring camp as well after leading the team in receptions last season.
Joseph transferred from Northwestern this offseason and is expected to compete for a starting spot on defense.
Players who were limited Wednesday but aren’t expected to miss significant time were defensive linemen Asani Redwood, who missed spring camp, and Oryend Fisher, who was hurt during bowl prep last season, freshman receiver Dom Collins and cornerback Jacolby Spells.
Spells, the team’s top returning cornerback, is expected to be ready by the start of the season.
“Jacolby Spells has really done well,” WVU coach Neal Brown said. “He got injured in practice two or three of spring ball. He was a limited participant (Wednesday), but I feel good about him progressing and being ready.”
More good news for the Mountaineers was that linebackers Josiah Trotter and Trey Lathan are both back at full speed after recovering from their season-ending injuries last year.
“The spring was big for both of them because they went out there and practiced full speed and were able to get over some of those hurdles,” Brown said.
Trotter was expected to contribute as a true freshman last year, but missed the entire season.
“Trotter is a different mindset, so I use very little of my time being concerned if he’s ready to go,” Brown said of Trotter, who’s father Jeremiah Trotter played 12 seasons in the NFL. “When you grow up in that household and you’re prepared like he’s been prepared, that’s not somebody that I’m wondering if he’s getting ready. He’s ready.”
Lathan served as Trotter’s replacement to begin the year, but suffered his own season-ending injury against TCU.
“That was a bad injury, so mentally, that took a lot,” Brown said. “He’s worked with people to overcome that and he got better as he had more confidence as the spring went. He ran really well today.”
Missing all of fall practice and a chunk of the season will be Altuner, a freshman offensive lineman, and McIntyre, a redshirt freshman defensive lineman.
“Kyle Altuner will be out with a lower injury — we look for him to come back at some point this season — he’s not going to miss the year,” Brown said. “That’s a blow to us — we thought he was going to be able to compete. He still may toward the later part of the season, but he’ll miss all of camp and is probably looking more toward mid-season.”
McIntyre was hurt during spring practice.
“I knew he was going to make a big jump (this offseason) unfortunately, he’s injured,” Brown said. “He’ll be back later in the year, but he’s going through rehab right now.”
Missing the entire season will be Faverus and Hamilton, who have been “medically disqualified from participation in college athletics.”
Brown said it is likely to be the end of both of their college careers.
“I hate it for (Faverus) — great guy and really was a heavy special teams contributor,” Brown said. “He’s been a really good leader and has really developed here into a good special teams player.”
After running through the team’s injuries, Brown made a pitch that college football should adopt a system similar to the NFL’s injury reports.
“I think as a league and college football as a whole, we need to look at injury reports and just having a reporting mechanism,” Brown said. “We try to protect the kids, which is the right thing to do, but at the same time there’s the changes and gambling and everything.”
College coaches are not currently required to disclose any injury news.
The Mountaineers continue fall camp with practice Thursday and Friday before Fan Day at Milan Puskar Stadium on Saturday. The team will sign autographs for fans from 9:30-11 a.m. and then hold an open practice until 1 p.m.
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