MORGANTOWN - When the media showed up for a dollop of WVU spring football on Tuesday, what they found was a smorgasbord of items.
Some will be tasty to Mountaineer fans. Some will be foul. Some were addressed by West Virginia head coach Dana Holgorsen at the program's practice facility. One was not - yet later confirmed by school representative Mike Montoro.
Let's go in reverse order.
First, there was the biggest news of the day: Offensive tackle Marcell Lazard, a 6-foot-6, 311-pound redshirt senior, is not with the team.
That's a blow to the Mountaineers because Lazard has played in 26 games in his career and started 12. He started six of 12 last season and was used at both tackle positions. But heading into spring drills, Lazard was listed behind injured redshirt junior Yodny Cajuste, 6-5, 308, at left tackle. Redshirt sophomore Colton McKivitz, 6-7, 307, was listed as the starter at right tackle with Josh Sills No. 2.
The names of three other roster players were missing from the depth chart released in the spring prospectus: former four-star wide receiver Steven Smothers, redshirt junior offensive lineman Dontae Angus and redshirt freshman defensive lineman Jeffrey Pooler.
"Smothers is working on his academics," Holgorsen said. "There's a reason they put 'student' before 'athlete.' I got an update on him this morning and he's doing what he needs to be doing, but until he figures out the 'student' part of it, he's not going to be the 'athlete' part of it.
"Angus is in the same boat - plus so. Pooler is out there [on the practice field] probably doing some rolls or bear crawls, something that's going to make him hurt on the inside. We'll leave it at that."
As for the bright spots, Holgorsen said he remains confident Florida transfer Will Grier will be eligible for the start of the season. Grier is serving a suspension handed down by the NCAA for using a banned supplement.
Also, the coach was very high on a couple of potential Grier targets this coming season.
"Gary Jennings looks great," Holgorsen said. "He looks great. David Sills looks really good. I mean, [playing receiver] used to be a hobby for [Sills, a former quarterback]. Now it's not a hobby. It's a full-time job and he looks really comfortable."
At the outside receiver positions, sophomore Marcus Simms is listed No. 1 in front of 6-5 junior college transfer Dominique Maiden and injured White is listed in front of Jovon Durante.
"Battles on the outside," Holgorsen said. "Marcus Simms, Jovon [Durante], Ricky Rogers, Dominique Maiden are all competing right now. We're missing Ka'Raun [White] right there."
He paused.
"I saw Shelton [Gibson] in the office today. I was trying to convince him to rewind from a couple months ago [when he declared for the NFL draft]," said the coach. "So battles on the outside. But Gary and David on the inside look spectacular."
In regard to the team's health, Holgorsen said "the long-term guys are still day-to-day."
"[Linebacker] Brendan Ferns has been practicing, but you can tell he's just feeling his way a little bit. Dravon [Henry] and Yodny and Ka'Raun [White] are still working their way into it. Other than that, we're good to go."
Ferns, Henry and Cajuste are recovering from knee injuries. White broke a bone in his right leg.
"Dravon is probably a little bit more behind than Ferns," Holgorsen said. "Yodny, we just tested his knee and he's progressing. He's not quite ready, but I feel we'll get him for a couple weeks [of spring drills]. Dravon is a little slower, maybe on purpose because we need him for Virginia Tech. Of anyone, he's proven he can be a difference-maker."
Overall?
"It's going good," Holgorsen said. "Fourth practice [on Tuesday]. Two without pads. Helmets only. You don't get anything out of those other than off-season stuff. We've been with these guys for six weeks, since signing day... So Sunday night was really the first time they'd practiced."
Contact Mitch Vingle at 304-348-4827 or mitchvingle@wvgazettemail.com. Follow him on Twitter @MitchVingle.