Injuries Alter Kentucky Football Spring Game Format
When Mark Stoops let members of the media into Saturday’s spring football practice, we noticed a lot of unusual numbers lining up on the Kentucky defense. There are always newcomers who make an early impact, like Jamon Dumas-Johnson, but this was different.
After practice, Stoops revealed his team is far from having a clean bill of health. The lengthy injury report will prevent the Wildcats from hosting a traditional spring game next Saturday at Kroger Field. Instead of tackling to the ground with a full scrimmage, the defense will “thud” offensive players.
“It really bothers me and it hurts that I’m not able to do more of that. Next week you’re going to see with the spring game, I cannot do a typical go to the ground (tackling). I have eight D-linemen that can’t participate,” said Stoops.
“What happens is it will put everybody else at risk if I go full-tilt. O-linemen are playing against freshmen and we’re going to get more injuries. Can’t do it.”
The Big Blue Nation will not get to see a simulated scrimmage, but Stoops will open Kroger Field to the public for a full practice with extended team periods, just without the tackling.
“Everybody can see what we’re doing, which is fine, but it won’t be your typical (spring game). There’s no way I can divide it into two teams. Even going offense vs defense to the ground, I just don’t have enough bodies.”
In addition to the defensive line injuries, there were some notable absences in the secondary. The two starting safeties, Zion Childress and Jordan Lovett were absent. Redshirt freshman Jaremiah Anglin was just recently cleared to practice, and he was running with the twos at cornerback.
“It’s slowing us down a touch. We’ll overcome it,” said Stoops. “I feel like when we put it all together and get everybody back, there’s going to be some really good pieces.”
The format has not been finalized, but fans will be able to watch the entire open practice in person, free of charge. The action begins at 1 pm EST and will be streamed on SECN+ and ESPN+.
Stoops: Kentucky was too sloppy on Saturday
Installing a new offense has become an annual ritual each spring. The Kentucky coaches were encouraged by the early returns, but after taking a few steps forward, today they took a step in the wrong direction.
“We’ve been very good, very clean and I’ve been very encouraged,” said Stoops. “When we went out there today, we put the ball out there today and it got a little sloppy. It’s good learning for these players to understand when we put it all together and coaches are off to the sideline, when we go out there and play ball, we gotta be very precise and we gotta be dialed in.”
Kentucky ran a sloppy operation in 2023, particularly on offense. The Cats were slow to get off plays and made so many self-inflicted mistakes. This group was challenged early to play clean football and the initial returns were exceptional. Just because it was a great start does not mean they are a finished product.
“We can’t get misconstrued and think you have it all figured out because there’s so many moving pieces and we keep on adding more, and we’re not even game-planning. It’s gotta be done so efficiently and we need to bank thousands of reps,” said Stoops.
The Kentucky head coach is not discouraged. This is all a part of the learning process.
“We have a lot of time, we need it and we’re just going to keep on grinding.”
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