WATCH: Candid Mark Stoops Shares Multiple Injury Updates

Kentucky football head coach Mark Stoops - Dr. Michael Huang, Kentucky Sports Radio

You’ve probably already read some of his comments, but if you haven’t seen what Mark Stoops had to say before Kentucky goes on the road to play Vandy, scroll down and hit play. You’ll see a side of the Kentucky head coach that you haven’t seen in a long time.

While we’ve already touched on a few of the big-picture talking points, in the here and now, the Wildcats’ injury situation, particularly on defense, is dicey. Kentucky was without roughly four starters against Tennessee Tech. The situation worsened when Kahlil Saunders got dinged up. Fortunately, it sounds like the talented Kentucky defensive lineman only got dinged.

“We’ll see as the week goes on,” Stoops said. “I was very encouraged with seeing Kahlil yesterday and talking to our trainers.

Saunders has been arguably Kentucky’s best defensive lineman this fall, an invaluable asset they need on the field against Vanderbilt. Unfortunately, Stoops wasn’t as optimistic about Alex Afari‘s chances of playing after the linebacker missed the Tennessee Tech game. He did not have an update worth sharing on Monday. “I do hope he can play this week, but we will see,” said the Kentucky head coach.

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The Wildcats have been juggling defensive backs all season long. They’ve been without two starting cornerbacks, Terhyon Nichols and DJ Waller, for the last three weeks. Nasir Addison started in the win over Florida. After he suffered an injury in that game, they hoped to save his redshirt if either of the other two could return in time for Saturday’s game in Nashville. It’s quite a juggling act for the Kentucky coaching staff.

“A lot of our players are very unselfish and do what we ask them to do, or what they want to do to help the team down the stretch, so we’ll manage it this week,” said Stoops.

More Kentucky News and Views on the KSR YouTube Channel

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