Boston College head coach Jeff Hafley admitted the Eagles missed starting left tackle Tyler Vrabel during Saturday night’s blowout loss to now-No. 18 North Carolina State.

“Not taking anything away from Jack [Conley], but [Vrabel’s] our starting left tackle with a ton of starts,” Hafley said Sunday. “And that hurt us.”

Luckily for the Eagles, Hafley did say Wednesday that Vrabel participated in practice, full contact with pads.

“He’s ahead of where he was last week,” Hafley said. “So he’s looking good.”

Vrabel suffered a knee injury late in the first half at Clemson and couldn’t play against N.C. State, even after having the bye week to recover. Redshirt sophomore Jack Conley got his first career start and tried his best to protect quarterback Dennis Grosel’s blind side.

But Conley allowed two sacks and seven total pressures, according to Pro Football Focus. To put that in perspective, Vrabel has conceded just two sacks and six total pressures all season.

Vrabel came into the year with 24 career starts. He was an All-ACC Honorable Mention in both 2019 and 2020. Because of a shoulder injury, Vrabel moved over to right tackle last season yet still played all 785 offensive snaps across 11 games.

He switched back to left tackle this offseason.