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Head coach Jeff Lebby confirms injury status of defensive lineman Kai McClendon

Paul Jones Mississippi State Bulldogsby: Paul Jones07/31/25PaulJonesOn3
kai mcclendon
Kai McClendon (Photo by Mississippi State Athletics)

On Thursday morning after Mississippi State’s initial day of training camp, head coach Jeff Lebby confirmed the injury status of sophomore defensive lineman Kai McClendon. Earlier in the day we noted that McClendon was working in the injury pit and did not participate in practice.

Lebby reported that McClendon will be out of action for some time due to tearing his ACL in spring practice. Lebby did not give a time table for McClendon’s return.

“Right now, Kai is going to be out for a while,” Lebby said. “He tore his ACL in the spring so he’ll be out for a while.”

McClendon, a former Gulfport High School standout, was a surprise contributor last year as a true freshman. McClendon played in all 12 games and had five starts at defensive tackle. For the season, McClendon totaled 30 tackles, two tackles for loss and .5 sack.

State is in much better position to handle the loss of a contributor like McClendon this season opposed to the last. The Bulldogs brought in several new faces from the transfer portal and McClendon’s unit has players like Jamil Burroughs along with returnees Kalvin Dinkins and Kedrick Bingley-Jones that will be competing for reps this training camp.

“The bodies, where we’re at today compared to fall camp last year, completely different to the way we practiced a year ago,” Lebby said. “There’s a ton of work and development to do to get to where we need to get, but the body types and those guys’ intent is really good.”

The Bulldogs continue training camp on Friday and Saturday before having an off day on Sunday.

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