How Does T.J. Thorpe’s Injury Impact UVa’s Plans?

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T.J. Thorpe had quickly worked his way into the rotation at UVa. ~ Ashley Thornton/aft photography

Dating back to spring practice all the way through Virginia’s Media Day event on Tuesday, the coaches expressed excitement about transfer receiver T.J. Thorpe. Whether it was good hands, good speed, or simply experience, the prevailing feeling around the program believed that Thorpe could be a key piece of the puzzle this season.

By Thursday evening, those hopes had been dashed. For a while anyway.

Thorpe, a transfer from North Carolina, suffered a broken right clavicle (collar bone) during Wednesday afternoon’s team scrimmage. The injury is expected to sideline the wideout for approximately 10 weeks, which would place his return near the Syracuse (10/17) or, coincidentally, UNC (10/24) games. Thorpe missed the entire 2012 season at Carolina with a broken foot and missed time early last season with the same injury. In fact, he’s broken his foot three times and this makes the fourth year in a row that he has broken a bone of some sort. Still, he posted 42 receptions for 574 yards and five touchdowns while with the Heels and the Hoos were counting on some production from him this season.

So what do the Cavaliers do in the wake of the news?

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