Kentucky expects Jordan Griffin back 'close to 100%'

Sawyer Smith’s status remains uncertain, but he’s not the only one who needed a week off to rest.

“Definitely needed the rest for quite a few of our players, so that was a good thing,” Mark Stoops said at his weekly press conference.

Jordan Griffin probably benefited most from the Saturday off the football field. Kentucky’s most experienced player in the secondary suffered an injury prior to the Mississippi State game. He played a few snaps in each of the road games, but the nagging lower body injury prevented him making any significant contributions.

“Jordan is better. Jordan was out there last week and looks pretty close to 100 percent,” Stoops said. Griffin was listed on the depth chart as the No. 1 option at nickelback, a position that’s struggled in his absence.

That’s the good news. The bad news is that defensive lineman Phil Hoskins is not that close to playing.

“Phil is still not quite there. We’ll see today. Last week he was out running and going through some more rehab, more intense rehab, but wasn’t out there in team activities.”

It sounds like there’s still a chance Hoskins may play this Saturday. It does not sound like wide receiver Isaiah Epps is close to playing. “We tried with him and he wasn’t quite ready (for team activities),” Stoops said.

Another non-injury related interesting roster note: When asked who could return punts if they want to save Lynn Bowden for quarterbacking duties, freshman Travis Tisdale was the first name Stoops mentioned. Josh Ali has been the most reliable option in Bowden’s absence thus far, but Stoops would be willing to use one of Tisdale’s four games to see how the young playmaker responds.

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