Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
Sills Opts For Season-Ending Shoulder Surgery
September 24, 2019 01:18 PM | Football
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia University football coach Neal Brown said junior right guard Josh Sills has opted for season-ending shoulder surgery.
Brown indicated Sills had successful surgery on Monday.
"He will miss the remainder of the year," Brown said during his Tuesday afternoon news conference. "I hate that for him, but it's necessary for him and he's recovering well."
Sills, an All-Big 12 second team choice by the coaches last year, began this year at center against James Madison before returning to guard for loss at Missouri.
Sills skipped the NC State victory and did not make the Kansas trip before choosing to get his shoulder fixed.
"As he recovers we'll kind of figure out what's next for him," Brown said.
That leaves senior left tackle Colton McKivitz and junior guard Chase Behrndt as the only remaining players with extensive experience on this year's offensive line.
Behrndt has filled in for Sills at right guard and redshirt freshman James Gmiter has started the last two games at left guard surrounding redshirt freshman center Briason Mays.
Brown complimented Behrndt's performance during last week's 29-24 win at Kansas.
"The last two weeks, Chase has played at a high level. He also played well against NC State," he said. "He was very good at the point of attack in the run game, and he was very productive in coach (Matt) Moore's grading system."
Junior college transfer John Hughes also remains in the mix, as well as junior Michael Brown, who started the first two games at left guard.
West Virginia has an open week before facing 11th-ranked Texas on Saturday, Oct. 5 at Milan Puskar Stadium. The Longhorns (3-1) are coming off a 36-30 victory over Oklahoma State last weekend.
A 3:30 kickoff has been assigned for the game, to be televised on either ABC or ESPN.
"The bye week is here, and it comes at a really good time for us," Brown said. "It's a critical week for our development. We put a lot of time into our younger players during this week and so this is key to that.
"At the end of the week we'll spend a lot of time on recruiting."
Brown indicated Sills had successful surgery on Monday.
"He will miss the remainder of the year," Brown said during his Tuesday afternoon news conference. "I hate that for him, but it's necessary for him and he's recovering well."
Sills, an All-Big 12 second team choice by the coaches last year, began this year at center against James Madison before returning to guard for loss at Missouri.
Sills skipped the NC State victory and did not make the Kansas trip before choosing to get his shoulder fixed.
"As he recovers we'll kind of figure out what's next for him," Brown said.
Surgery was a success! Now starts the recovery process for a bigger and healthier year ahead. Looking forward to the journey! pic.twitter.com/rWnxjkrJVr
— Josh Sills (@josh_sills73) September 24, 2019
That leaves senior left tackle Colton McKivitz and junior guard Chase Behrndt as the only remaining players with extensive experience on this year's offensive line.
Behrndt has filled in for Sills at right guard and redshirt freshman James Gmiter has started the last two games at left guard surrounding redshirt freshman center Briason Mays.
Brown complimented Behrndt's performance during last week's 29-24 win at Kansas.
"The last two weeks, Chase has played at a high level. He also played well against NC State," he said. "He was very good at the point of attack in the run game, and he was very productive in coach (Matt) Moore's grading system."
Junior college transfer John Hughes also remains in the mix, as well as junior Michael Brown, who started the first two games at left guard.
West Virginia has an open week before facing 11th-ranked Texas on Saturday, Oct. 5 at Milan Puskar Stadium. The Longhorns (3-1) are coming off a 36-30 victory over Oklahoma State last weekend.
A 3:30 kickoff has been assigned for the game, to be televised on either ABC or ESPN.
"The bye week is here, and it comes at a really good time for us," Brown said. "It's a critical week for our development. We put a lot of time into our younger players during this week and so this is key to that.
"At the end of the week we'll spend a lot of time on recruiting."
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