UVa.‘s Simpson ‘feeling better’ after injury

Two days after being carted off the field, running back Mikell Simpson was back at UVa’s football facility.

He didn’t take part in the team’s Sunday practice, but Simpson was able to join the team for the film review of Saturday’s 47-7 victory against Indiana.

“He’s feeling better,” coach Al Groh said Sunday night after practice. “We’re doing some more tests, and we’ll see as the week goes along.”

The senior hasn’t been ruled out of this Saturday’s game at Maryland. He fractured his clavicle last year, and while this has been classified as a neck injury, no further details have been released.

Simpson was beginning to show his old form again before he left the game. He had 83 yards, and was almost certainly on his way to his second-consecutive 100-yard game.

But the Cavaliers have proven resilient to injury this season, and they’ll embrace the challenge once again.

Quarterback Vic Hall’s hip injury didn’t affect the team negatively because Jameel Sewell stepped into the position effective. Ditto with Brandon Woods taking over for Rodney McLeod at safety. Saturday’s game also featured Isaac Cain jumping in at right tackle for B.J. Cabbell.

One player who will likely see more carries at running back is freshman Torrey Mack. He had a strong preseason before being moved to more of a receiving role in the first games. Now he’s back, and had positive results during his lone drive of extended action.

“He had a couple good spurts there,” Groh said. “We were in agreement in our discussions that it was a good thing for him to be able to do — to get game-type carries as opposed to scrimmages and practices.”

While the running back is the biggest unfilled role right now, Groh will also keep a close eye on his kicking situation this week.