Virginia Tech trainer Mike Goforth, a very popular and busy man these days, brought the media up to date on Tech's walking wounded yesterday. Here are the details:

Kevin Jones: Jones has a "quadriceps contusion" -- in other words, a thigh bruise -- that he first sustained against UConn and then aggravated in practice Monday. Things looked grim on Monday, but Jones had improved greatly by Tuesday morning. His swelling was down, and his range of motion had improved greatly. Goforth will continue treating Jones, and there's a "chance" he could play Saturday against Western Michigan.

Jim Davis: Davis hurt his back lifting weights Sunday, and it was feared that he had a herniated disk. Fortunately, the disk was just bulging, not herniated. Davis will miss this weekend's game, but Goforth hopes he will be back to full speed in time to prepare for the Sep. 22nd game at Rutgers. Davis will be treated with prednisone, an oral steroid, in an attempt to reduce the swelling, and if that is not successful, Tech's medical staff will investigate the possibility of an injection into the swollen area.

Jones, Davis, and Lee Suggs are all out, which means that they wear a green jersey in practice and don't participate. Reserve defensive end Jeff Thompson is also wearing the green jersey. Reserve Whip linebacker Dirk Taylor and reserve fullback Marvin Urquhart are classified as "limited" with injuries, which means they wear a blue jersey and participate in limited fashion in practice.

Other than that, the Hokies are healthy. It may feel as if they are suffering badly from the injury bug, but in reality, only two significant players -- Davis and Suggs -- won't be able to play on Saturday, and a third, Jones, is doubtful. The seriousness of Suggs's injury and the multiple injuries at tailback make the situation seem worse than it is from a sheer numbers standpoint.

Depth Chart Notes

Virginia Tech released their depth chart for the Western Michigan game, and the changes are very minor. Shawn Witten is still listed first at the Split End position, although he is now shown as a co-starter with Emmett Johnson (indicated by a capitalized "OR" between Witten and Johnson on the depth chart).

For the UConn game, Witten was listed as the sole starter. The fact that he is still listed first is significant because Johnson is now recovered from the injury that slowed him in the preseason.

In similar fashion, Jacob Gibson is listed as a co-starter over Luke Owens at left guard. Last week, Gibson was listed as the sole starter.

Defensively, Derrius Monroe will back up Nathaniel Adibi at the defensive end spot against Western Michigan. Also worth noting is that Larry Austin and Eric Green are now listed as co-starters at the Field Cornerback position, a change from last week.

Hokies in the Pros

Culled from message board posts ... The last few days have been very rough for former Hokies on NFL rosters. the following players were cut recently:

• Corey Moore (Cincinnati -- Moore was cut from the Buffalo Bills and was signed briefly by the Bengals)
• Michael Hawkes (Carolina -- resigned to practice squad)
• Ricky Hall (Kansas City)
• T.J. Washington (Carolina -- resigned to practice squad)
• Shayne Graham (Seattle)
• Dave Kadela (Atlanta Falcons -- resigned to practice squad)
• Anthony Midget (Tampa Bay)
• Pierson Prioleau (San Francisco)

Noel Ranked #3 in Passing Efficiency

Thanks to his efficient, accurate passing performance against Connecticut, as well as three passing TD's against no interceptions, Grant Noel is currently ranked third in passing efficiency in the NCAA.

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