Virginia football back Late in the third quarter of Thursday night’s game against Louisville, Perris Jones took a helmet-to-helmet hit that rendered him immobile, forced him off the field, and ultimately into the hospital.
Jones was hit after taking a swing pass and beginning to sprint up field. On the play, Jones stumbled and tumbled forward into a group of Louisville players. The play was close to the Louisville sideline, so the team’s trainers hurried outside to offer support right away. While Malik Washington, a receiver for Virginia, recovered the fumble and scored a touchdown, officials from both teams gathered around Jones, drawing immediate attention.
Players from Virginia, some of them crying, took a knee as the astonished crowd fell silent. Mike Hollins, a fellow running back who survived a tragedy in November of last year that claimed the lives of three of his colleagues, shares a room with Jones. This Monday marks the one-year anniversary of the passing of D’Sean Perry, Lavel Davis Jr., and Devin Chandler.
Eventually, Jones was rendered entirely immobile and placed on a trolley. Among the players who got as near to the cart as possible before it drove away was Hollins. Perry’s number 41 was written on the white tape Hollins wears across the back of his arms. For observation, Jones was brought to the University of Louisville Hospital.
Following the game, head coach Tony Elliott informed the media that he had received “encouraging” updates from the hospital on Jones’s condition. He also mentioned that Jones was having an MRI at the hospital, but he didn’t elaborate further at this point.
Prior to Jones being placed in the ambulance, Virginia athletic director Carla Williams met him close to the stadium tunnel and patted him on the arm, according to an earlier account by ESPN’s Harry Lyles Jr. during the game broadcast.
“It’s a very, very difficult reality of the sport that we play,” Elliott stated. That’s how any play could conclude. You wouldn’t want that for anyone, and PJ is a tough young man, as far as I’m aware. Every time he plays for this football team, he puts everything on the line, praying and thinking he’ll make a full recovery. I’m entrusting that to the Lord, asking for it beforehand, and having faith that it will come to pass.”
The Cavaliers have now lost five games this season by a touchdown or fewer. Virginia had led 21-14 after a fumble recovery score on the play that injured Jones, but Louisville rallied in the fourth quarter to win 31-24.
“Nobody wants to see it, and it’s tough to get back motivated, but I believe the guys responded,” Elliott stated. “We just didn’t make a couple plays at the end that we needed to make.”