Will Levis on injury: "It's my left shoulder, so who cares."
Kentucky quarterback Will Levis went down early in the third quarter with a left shoulder injury, coming up in clear pain after a push to the ground by a Mississippi State defender. The senior standout immediately ran to the locker room for X-rays holding his arm.
Like last week vs. South Carolina, redshirt freshman Kaiya Sheron entered the game, running three plays leading to a field goal make for Matt Ruffolo to give the Wildcats a 6-3 lead.
The score was crucial given the team’s lack of offensive production in the first half, but nothing beyond Levis’ shoulder injury felt important at the time. Given the hit and his immediate reaction, serious concern crept in. If it was anything long-term, Kentucky’s season success was in jeopardy.
That concern remained for all of one defensive drive, as Levis sprinted out of the locker room and back to the Kentucky sideline in time for the offense’s next drive. He warmed back up and immediately entered the game.
Despite the immediate concern for Levis, head coach Mark Stoops knew the injury wouldn’t keep him out long if it simply came down to pain tolerance. Without a break or dislocation, he’d be back out there sooner rather than later.
“He took a good shot and our trainer right away wanted to look at it,” Stoops told the SEC Network following the 27-17 win. “He took a good hit with the AC joint. They had to go in and make sure the X-rays were negative and nothing was out of place or broken or anything like that. I knew if it wasn’t broken, that guy would be back.”
As for Levis, he couldn’t care less. If X-rays came back clean, he was returning to the game no matter what. Fortunately for the Kentucky quarterback (and the program overall), they did.
Besides, it’s his non-throwing shoulder. At the end of the day, does that even matter?
“I was hoping to hear good news, which I did,” Levis said. “Got the magic shot and got back out here. It’s my left shoulder, so who cares.”
At this point, everyone is banged up, he says. With Kentucky off next week, it’s the perfect time for the team to get some much-needed rest and recover a bit — Levis particularly.
“It’s the SEC, you’re never going to play at 100%,” the senior quarterback said. “We’re midway through the season playing in the SEC. There are a lot of guys on the team exactly like this, you’ve just got to fight through. We’re very fortunate to have our bye week this week so we can get our bodies right. It’s so great to get a win like this heading into a bye week.”
Levis entered the day with a foot injury, one that kept him out against South Carolina last week. How did that feel Saturday evening?
“It was good. I spent the last couple of weeks rehabbing it, and whatever the trainers asked of me, I did it to the fullest extent,” Levis said. “It’s in a really good spot and I’m looking forward to taking advantage of this bye week to get it back to 100% by the time we get back.”
Levis finished the day with 230 yards, one touchdown and one interception on 17-23 passing to go with seven yards on the ground.
Now, it’s time for him to kick his feet up and take a well-deserved week off.
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