UVA INSIDER FOR OCT. 18, 2012

Normally, Virginia doesn’t release a football injury report until the appointed time on Thursday nights, so it was a little surprising to hear Cavaliers’ coach Mike London report Monday that running back Perry Jones had a concussion.

London mentioned the concussion almost in passing, in answer to a question about back-to-back timeouts UVa called in the second half against Maryland. It came at the tail end of a 25-minute interview session and there was no follow-up.

Frankly, I didn’t think much of it till copy editors in my office suggested that I move the Jones item to a more prominent place in my story.

I was able to confirm today (Thursday) that Jones was tested for a concussion after returning to the sidelines and did not play in the fourth quarter, but apparently it was a mild concussion.

“There are varying degrees of how people are diagnosed with a concussionand the severity of it,” London said in a teleconference this morning. “With Perry’s, it was more of a woozy type of feeling. At that particular moment, just everything was [exacerbated].

“Perry practiced Sunday; he’s practiced all week and he looks good. He’s been given the OK to play.”

Jones carried 10 times for 23 yards in a 27-20 loss to Maryland and, for the season, has carried 86 times for 318 yards, an average of 45.4 yards per game and 3.7 yards per carry.

He averaged 70.4 yards per game and 5.0 yards per carry last year.

Fellow tailback Kevin Parks, running for 67.9 yards per game and 5.1 yards per carry, got his first career start last Saturday but that was in tandem with Jones in a two- back set.

MUCH OF UVA’S difficulty in running the ball earlier this season was placed on the offensive line and there has been a perception that right offensive tackle Morgan Moses has had an up-and-down season.

That’s not how O-line coach Scott Wachenheim sees it.

“I don’t think you guys are watching every play,” Wachenheim said on a Wednesday teleconference. “The problem with offensive-line play and the people who don’t watch offensive play is, they only see one play here or one play there where an offensive lineman doesn’t do his job.

“I think Morgan’s having his best season by far. I think the weight loss has helped him. He’s bigger; he’s stronger. I mean he’s not bigger. He weighs less, but he’s stronger, he’s faster. He’s doing a better job finishing blocks.

“He’s having his best season by far since I’ve been here and I’ve been here his whole career. Every lineman misses blocks. Watch the NFL. Watch the all-pro linemen, the guys who get elected to the pro bowl. They miss blocks. The problem is, that’s all that people focus on sometimes.

“They don’t watch the tape and watch what he’s [Moses] doing good. There’s been some blocks this year that have just been incredible that he’s made. I’m very happy with the way he’s playing and with the leadership he’s providing.”

LONDON INDICATED that the team is hoping to get an extra season for Kelby Johnson, a 6-foot-7, 300-pound sophomore who is listed as the back-up to senior Oday Aboushi at left offensive tackle.

Johnson has been listed on the two-deep for the past several weeks after missing the first part of the season while on suspension for a violation of team rules.

Johnson played a total of 28 plays as a true freshman in 2011, 20 of them in the opener and six against Idaho – hardly the kind of participation that was worth burning a redshirt. He won’t play this year unless something happens to one of the other tackles.

Redshirt freshman Jay Whitmire spells Moses, sometimes with Moses moving to the left side, or at least that’s my impression. In a pinch, starting offensive guard Sean Cascarano could move to tackle, a position he played earlier in his career.

Aboushi completes his eligibility this season and there is a possibility that Moses, a junior who is in his fourth year out of high school, could turn pro. However, he could have gone pro last year and elected to return.

Johnson and Whitmire project as the starting offensive tackles for 2014. Redshirt freshman offensive guard Ross Burbank would be a good bet for the center spot with Luke Bowanko completing his eligibility in 2013.

LONDON SAID that freshman outside linebacker Trent Corney has been cleared medically after suffering a concussion in the first game of the season. Corney has played in only two games, but UVa would need documentation of a season-ending injury if it hoped to make a successful hardship appeal.