The Jayhawks (5-3 overall, 2-3 Big 12) had their bye last week and several KU coaches and players said the team used the off week to clear their minds and get their bodies ready for the final month of the season.

“Our training room is fabulous,” defensive end Lonnie Phelps Jr. said. “They’ve got our bodies feeling back right. Our strength and conditioning program also (has) our bodies back fresh and we’re feeling good.”

Without going into too many specifics, KU offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki said that anyone on the roster who has played significant snaps this season benefited from the break in the action.

On Monday, head coach Lance Leipold mentioned safety Kenny Logan Jr., by name as one of those players. Phelps was another, and KU’s sack leader said Tuesday that the bumps and bruises that had limited him in recent weeks were no longer an issue heading into Week 10.

“They bye week felt real good,” Phelps said. “It actually got me together. I ain’t got no problems with my knee, body or anything. I actually feel good and I’m ready to fly around and hit somebody.”

Asked specifically about the health of injured cornerback Cobee Bryant, KU defensive coordinator Brian Borland said Bryant had made “tremendous progress” during the past couple of weeks.

“He’s back practicing,” Borland said. “We’ll kind of see how it all plays out here through the week, but he’s at least able to practice and do some things. We’ve got to monitor that closely and if he’s able to play he will, if he can’t he won’t. Right now, I think we’re at least on a track where it’s a possibility. … He’s really lived in the training room and done all he can to get to where he’s at. He wants to play.”

By November, the number of college football players dealing with nagging injuries on any given roster typically soars into double digits. And that’s certainly no different for the Jayhawks.

Whether you’re talking about starting quarterback Jalon Daniels, who is back practicing — Kotelnicki said Tuesday that Daniels was “out there bopping around” — or starters and reserves on either side of the ball, the grind of the season usually has taken its toll on everybody by this point. That’s why the Jayhawks viewed their week off as a perfect opportunity to take a much-needed break from both the mental and physical demands of the season.

In fact, some players even said getting back to work this week had that start-of-the-season feel to it.

“Oh yeah, I definitely think we got back to that,” said sophomore running back Devin Neal. “It was a really important week for us. Just today you felt the energy out there. Everyone’s ready to go, everyone’s ready to play a game again and I’m really excited for this week.”

QB update

Kansas quarterback Jason Bean was asked Tuesday how he planned to approach the week now that Daniels is back on the practice field and his answer was what you would expect from a veteran QB who has proven he’s ready to handle whatever role is asked of him.

“Same thing,” Bean said. “Same way as always. Nothing changes.”

No word has been given about which player will start at quarterback for the Jayhawks this week, and the depth chart listed both Bean and Daniels together as potential starters.

Extra prep for OSU

Bean, who has started the past two games in place of Daniels, said the bye week also gave the Jayhawks a chance to take advantage of extra time to game plan for Oklahoma State.

“I think it helped a lot,” Bean said. “Working on specific plays and making sure we get those plays down. We got a little extra time to work on them.”

Kotelnicki said the week wasn’t just about looking ahead or fine-tuning their approach. KU’s offense actually put in a few new plays and packages this week.

“We installed,” Kotelnicki said Tuesday. “I don’t want to be a broken record about how offenses have to evolve, but they do. Based off personnel, based off matchups, based off what’s going well or not.”

Vegas odds

With injuries a factor at several key positions, and fresh off of the 48-0 loss at Kansas State last weekend, Oklahoma State opened the week as a 3.5-4-point favorite in Saturday’s matchup with Kansas.

As the week has progressed, the line has moved toward Kansas, with the Jayhawks now being listed as 2-point underdogs in most places.

In their eight games so far this season, the Jayhawks are 6-1-1 against the spread, with the only loss coming in their most recent game, when they were a 10.5-point underdog at Baylor and lost by 12.