West Virginia is dealing with a number of short-term injuries across the roster, but the Mountaineers could be getting some reinforcements back both now and later.
Senior defensive lineman Eddie Vesterinen injured his knee against Albany after playing well across 46 snaps this season but hasn’t seen the field since. That isn’t going to change for the remainder of this year, but Vesterinen has a redshirt year and is expected to use it in order to return during the 2025 season.
“He still has a redshirt year available. So, we’re going to use that,” head coach Neal Brown said.
Vesterinen has spent four years in the program and played a total of 938 defensive snaps which will give West Virginia a very experienced option back on the field next year to help combat the losses of players such as Sean Martin and Fatorma Mulbah.
“He’s progressing well. He’ll be full go in January,” Brown said.
A pair of freshmen might be back on the field sooner than later though as offensive lineman Kyle Altuner and defensive lineman Corey McIntyre are working their way back from off-season lower body injuries.
“Both of those guys are going to be really good players here,” Brown said.
Altuner put on pads for the first time last week and was expected to compete in some of the developmental practices over the open week.
“So excited about that,” Brown said.
Meanwhile, McIntyre, who played well in the spring and was set to be a key member of the rotation, has done well in rehab and has used Altuner to help push him on that front. The redshirt freshman is currently about two weeks behind where Altuner was at in his progression but there’s a possibility both return this year.
“They both could be active in November,” Brown said.
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