The Backyard Brawl is known for being physical and exhausting. It takes it all out of you, and the 108th rendition of the rivalry this year definitely took some names. There were a lot of injuries, mostly coming from Pitt, but WVU didn’t come out of it unscathed.

The Mountaineers had a couple of injuries that Rich Rodriguez updated the media on Tuesday during his weekly press conference.

Rodriguez started with Jacksonville State tight end Jacob Barrick. He was the newest addition to the injury list. Rodriguez said on his radio show Monday that Barrick had his ankle rolled up on and was a “long shot” to play against Kansas.

Wide receiver Preston Fox was another offensive player who didn’t make it out of the Backyard Brawl clean. Rodriguez said Fox was going to be “day-to-day” this week.

Obviously, Fox is a receiving weapon, although he doesn’t have too many catches, but he’s an even bigger asset in the punt and kick return game. Fox handled both responsibilities because of his sure-fire hands.

In Fox’s absence, slot receiver Rodney Gallagher came in to return punts, and another slot receiver, Jarod Bowie, returned kicks.

When picking a short-term replacement, Rodriguez first looked at who could catch the ball consistently. Then, he wants a player who can make a man miss.

“Rodney’s got great ball skills,” Rodriguez said. “We trust him with all the returns and catches.”

On the defensive side, sam linebacker Chase Wilson was banged up. Rodriguez said he’s hoping to have Wilson back this week. Wilson’s one of the leaders on the defense, alongside mike linebacker Reid Carrico, who’s also been banged up this season.

Defensive coordinator Zac Alley used two bandits, or pass rushers, against Pitt, which was effective. The defense had six sacks against the Panthers. Wilson’s injury was a part of the reason why Alley went with a couple of defensive ends. Redshirt freshman linebacker Ashton Woods was also ejected from the game in the second quarter for targeting.

Alley was limited in his linebacker options.

“We got a little bit thin over there,” Alley said. “Had to make some adjustments as well. But hopefully Chase will be full speed this week.”

Alley finally gets pass rusher Jimmori Robinson this week, according to Rodriguez, so that’ll help the pass rush.

Running back Kannon Katzer also isn’t quite ready to play yet. He’s been dealing with an injury all season.