Conley Slowly Being Worked In

He caught the kick and started returning it for the ninth time last season, but was hit on his left knee at the 17-yeard-line and was done for the season. He hasn’t played since.

The junior from Jacksonville, NC, went through a 10-plus month rehab, just finally being fully cleared two weeks ago. Conley dressed for North Carolina’s road win at Duke this past weekend, but there were no plans to play him. That was part of easing the hard-hitting defensive back into things. He was monitored closely then, and is each day.

“He hadn’t practiced at all until last week, so you can’t just go on a severe knee operation, not practice at all, and then jump in and play,” UNC Coach Mack Brown said Tuesday via zoom. “So, we’re looking at him.”

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Conley became a starter late in his true freshman season in 2020 and was a starter a year ago until the injury, which was Carolina’s 11th game of the season. He has recorded 82 tackles, five PBUs, forced a fumble and recovered one in his time at UNC. As a kick returner, Conley did so nine times last season for 197 yards with a long of 40 yards.

Right now, however, the staff is looking at ways to slowly increase his comfort and confidence. Returning from a major knee injury isn’t easy, and they aren’t going to rush him back onto the field at full speed.

“I had eight knee operations, and everybody responds differently, and his was really tough,” Brown said. “He’s got to get back in practice like he did last week, and he’s got to get knocked down, he’s gotta start and stop, and he’s gotta make sure that he can plant and push off.

“And it’s our job to make sure he’s totally confident in that leg, even if it’s well, before we put him back out there, or he’ll get something else hurt. That’s our biggest concern for him.”

So, the part of Conley’s process this week has him working on some special teams, as Brown explained.

“He’s on some backup special teams, and hopefully in the next two weeks, he’ll get more involved in special teams, and then hopefully we can have him ready to play,” the Carolina coach said. “I’m just not really sure right now when that will be.”

Brown wants Conley on some special teams because it will test the knee and ease him toward regaining his role on defense. As a safety, Coney will have to tackle running backs, meaning he would have to plant, go and stop and really stress that knee.

On special teams, he can just run, be more in space, and get a good feel for how healthy the knee is, and hoe he feels about it.

“We just want to make sure that he’s confident that he’s well,” Brown said. “He’s been released. He didn’t practice a lot two weeks ago. He practiced more last week, and (this week) he’s getting more reps.”

UNC (6-1, 3-0 ACC) is off this weekend with its second open date of the season. With respect to Conley, this comes at a good time, because the staff can pay closer attention to him during the week since they aren’t doing much game prep.

The Tar Heels’ next game is October 29 at home versus Pittsburgh. Brown would love to see Conley ready to play some versus the Panthers, but nobody is rushing this. At the very least, the Hall of Famer is fairly confident Conley will get into a game at some point.

“It’s a slow process with him, but hopefully he’ll be able to do some things in two weeks,” he said. “And if not, I can see him playing some before the season’s over.”

UNC has five games remaining. It travels to Virginia after the Pitt game, visits Wake Forest, hosts Georgia Tech, and closes the season at home against NC State.