Pitt senior cornerback Damarri Mathis vows never to box again — even as a conditioning exercise — after suffering a season-ending shoulder injury last year while working out at home.

“No one ever heard that story?” coach Pat Narduzzi said during his post-practice news conference. “So, you know how kids are. You have those boxing things, you punch the hands (of a partner). It wasn’t really in a ring or anything, but just sparring, I guess, and just working on your hand quickness and all that stuff in his front yard — not with (Pitt strength coach Michael Stacchiotti).”

Apparently, Mathis missed the hands.

“You talk to boxers. You can dislocate your shoulder from, must have missed the hand, I guess, I don’t know,” Narduzzi said.

Mathis, who is fully recovered, said he never has boxed in a real match, and doesn’t plan to take up the sport.

“Boxing, I’m done with that. None of that,” he said. “Anything from now on that I do is only football-related. I’m sticking to that. Just conditioning.”

If not for the injury, Mathis might be in the NFL this season. From 2017-19, he played in 36 games, with 12 starts and three interceptions.

“Pretty good corner,” Narduzzi said. “We’re just getting him back into great football shape. We’re happy where he is. Again, it was an innocent mistake. He’s working to get better. He’s just not allowed to box anymore.”

Mathis said he had the most productive offseason of his career.

“I know what I can do. I know what I worked for,” he said. “So, it’s pretty much game time. There’s not much more to talk about. It’s time to play ball.”

He said he has improved his speed, agility and weightlifting prowess. “Just getting my body back right where it needed to be,” he said.

Vincent Davis misses first day

Pitt junior Vincent Davis, who is competing for the lead running back job with sophomore Izzy Abanikanda, missed practice Friday while awaiting covid-19 test results.

“He should have been out there,” Narduzzi said. “But his flight got delayed, Spirit Airlines and all that. Guess what? I could care less about excuses, so he’s late.

“If he got here when he needed to, we would have got the (test) results and he would have been ready to go. But because of that he missed practice.”

Narduzzi said Davis will be at practice Saturday.

Linebacker returning kicks?

Narduzzi said Jaylon Barden, Jordan Addison and outside linebacker Phil Campbell are in line to return kickoffs this season.

There aren’t many linebackers returning kicks, but Narduzzi said Campbell (6-foot-1 220 pounds) runs like a tailback. Actually, he’s a former safety.

“Couple weeks ago, he was just running with the ball in a linebacker drill. I was like, ‘Jeez, we should put that guy on kickoff. I don’t know if coach (Andre) Powell will. But you may see him out there. Who knows?”

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