Drew Barker out at least 3-4 weeks with back injury

[caption id="attachment_207354" align="alignnone" width="1943"] Mark Zerof | USA Today[/caption] There have been rumblings about this on social media all day, but Mark Stoops just confirmed that sophomore quarterback Drew Barker will be out for a "significant" amount of time with a back injury. This morning, Barker met with a specialist, who, according to Stoops, said the best option for him right now is to rest. As of now, the injury won't require surgery, but Stoops said Barker could be out three to four weeks, or maybe even the rest of the season. "Drew will be out. His injury does not require surgery at this time. He will miss significant time," Stoops said, calling the injury, "serious" and "legitimate." On Monday, Stoops said Drew's injury wasn't just the result of the hit he took on Saturday vs. New Mexico State, but a lingering issue that's been bothering him since the summer. "He’s had some issues that were lingering, so it’s not just one hit. If you look at the hit, it doesn’t look anything too much but I think you put that and compound it on some the back problems that he’s had, even going back to last week at Florida," Stoops said. "He had a few issues come up in the summer, a couple things that were bothering him. Some of this is chronic." Thankfully, Stephen Johnson has proven he's capable of running Kentucky's offense in Drew's absence. Best of luck to Drew in his recovery.