Neal Brown provides multiple injury updates as West Virginia opener nears

In less than three weeks, West Virginia will kick off the 2023 season with a tough test at Penn State. Mountaineers head coach Neal Brown provided updates on multiple players who are currently banged up during his press conference on Tuesday.

First, Brown spoke about defensive lineman Asani Redwood. The redshirt freshman from Georgia is progressing well after missing the spring with an injury.

“Asani is making positive gains. He is ahead of schedule,” Brown said. “Game 1, I’m not sure. I don’t want to say no yet. But he’s such a young player, he’s a redshirt freshman. We’re not going to play him until he’s ready.”

Up next, Brown provided an update on fellow defensive lineman Sean Martin. The junior appeared in 12 games last year, with eight starts. Martin finished the 2022 season with 34 tackles, including eight tackles for loss and four sacks.

“Sean Martin, he should practice some this week. And I’m not really concerned about him going into Game 1,” Brown said.

Finally, Brown spoke about receiver Davis Mallinger. The safety-turned-wideout missed the end of last season with a knee injury and is still working his way back.

“He’s just gotta get stronger. That’s the thing right now,” Brown said. “It’s his strength in the leg he got repaired. The knee’s good. He’s just got to get his leg stronger.”

Mallinger appeared in nine games and made four starts in 2022. He finished the year with 26 tackles, including a pair of sacks. Now he is switching over to the offensive side of the ball.

Neal Brown added that a few other players were dealing with minor bumps and bruises but nothing that is too serious.

Neal Brown explains what makes West Virginia such a tough place for opponents to play

While the first game on the schedule for West Virginia is at Penn State, the Mountaineers will return home the following week to face Duquesne in their first of six home games on the season.

West Virginia is 12-5 at Mountaineer Field at Milan Puskar Stadium over the past three years under Neal Brown. That includes wins over Baylor and Oklahoma in 2022 and a perfect 5-0 home mark in 2020.

Brown spoke with ESPN at Big 12 Media Days about why WVU is such a tough place to play.

“It’s a hard place to get to. So I think that’s the first thing,” Brown said. “And then our fanbase. You’ve gotta remember, there’s no pro sports in the state of West Virginia. There’s no other Power 5 school. And so Mountaineer football on Saturdays in the fall, those are events.”