Nick Becton’s turf toe injury won’t prevent him from playing in the season opener agains Boise State.

Or at least that’s what offensive line coach Curt Newsome said he thinks after tonight’s practice.

Becton, a sophomore, is Virginia Tech’s new starting left tackle. He jammed a toe on his right foot during Sunday’s practice, while planting during a pass-protection drill. Newsome surely was disappointed to see it, but what he saw next made him hopeful that Becton might return sooner rather than later: Becton tried to continue practicing after getting hurt.

“I think we’ve got a tough young man that wants to get reps,” Newsome said.

Becton definitely needs them, because he played just 46 snaps in a mop-up role last regular season. Newsome said Becton could have used the practice time to more quickly recognize blitzes before the snap that an opponent might use, based how defenders line up, and to identify which defender he must block on certain plays. So while Newsome said he thinks Becton will be ready for Boise State, he also plainly said the injury “hurts our football team, no question.”

Turf toe—or sprained toe, or whatever you want to call it—can be a nagging injury, and Tech’s trainers believe Becton’s case is “fairly significant,” Newsome said. But even if Becton misses two weeks, as the medical staff believes he will, that still gives him two weeks to prepare for Boise State.

So the Hokies need not panic, at least not at this point, about their offense, which has plenty of potential. (Other than Becton, Tech had to replace just its left guard and tight end from last season’s much-improved group.)

As Becton recovers, junior Andrew Lanier is the No. 1 left tackle and freshman Mark Shuman is his understudy. Newsome said another well-regarded freshman, Laurence Gibson, will not move from right tackle because Newsome just wants him to focus on learning one side.

Lanier played as a backup last season and started the Duke game at right tackle in place of Blake DeChristopher (Clover Hill). During the spring, Newsome gave Lanier snaps at left tackle, so he could spell starters at both spots. Newsome was about to start working Lanier at the right side, so he could hone his skills there, when Becton got hurt.

Newsome said Lanier is the type of player who needs reps to improve at a position. “He doesn’t see it on the board [in the meeting room] and come out here and, ‘Boom, I’ve got it,’” Newsome said. Becton, on the other hand, is “a guy that can see it on the board and carry it over to the field,” Newsome said. So maybe missing two weeks won’t hurt his progress as much as it would for other players.

While Lanier is versatile, he’s also light, or light for a college football offensive tackle. He weighs 275 pounds. Newsome wants to see him gain five to 10 more. Adding weight during August practices, though, is not easy.

“Where he struggles is to anchor a guy down, like on a bull-rush,” Newsome said. “There’s some technical things he needs to do with his footwork, in terms of widening his base and those sorts of things.”

Of his weight, Lanier said: “I don’t even think I’m ready at that standpoint to play tackle, especially starting a big game like that. I’m doing all right run blocking, but when it comes to just anchoring a guy down on pass protection, it’s really giving me some difficulty.” He believes this is half due to his weight, half due to his technique needing to improve.

Newsome did mention that Lanier did fine in pass protection when he started last year against Duke. Granted, Duke is Duke, but in that game, quarterback Tyrod Taylor completed 17 of 22 passes for 327 yards and two touchdowns.

“I think [Lanier] has proven he can protect the passer,” Newsome said.

A couple other items from Newsome ...

** He still prefers slimmer, athletic lineman such as Lanier, a converted tight end, even if he sometimes has to worry about them keeping weight on. “You get a bunch of 340[-pound] guys, you don’t have to worry about it,” Newsome said. “I’d rather have them trying to struggle to keep it on than struggle to keep it off.” (Here is a story about Tech wanting to recruit more athletic linemen.)

** Newsome wanted sophomore Michael Via to get some reps as a backup tackle in the spring. Via spent last season as the No. 2 center. But he only played “a couple snaps” at tackle before he stretched his anterior cruciate ligament. So even when he returns—which could be soon—he won’t have much experience at tackle.

As for Via’s return from ACL surgery, Newsome said, “I think we’re really close to getting him back. He’s way ahead of where we thought he’d be.” Team trainer Mike Goforth said he expected Via to be cleared for Boise State. If “really close” is any indication, it might be sooner than that.

** For some more context on Becton, here is a story from spring practices.

twitter.com/darrylslater