The Kansas football team was without the services of injured quarterback Jalon Daniels and cornerback Cobee Bryant at Tuesday’s practice, Kansas coach Lance Leipold said Tuesday morning.
But Leipold added that junior linebacker Lonnie Phelps Jr. was practicing and is available.
For a team that has been hit hard by the injury bug at key positions during the past couple of weeks, the update provided at least some good news.
Leipold noted that Phelps — KU’s leading sack man, with six — played 15 snaps in last Saturday’s loss at Oklahoma, during which OU ran 100 offensive plays. Without Phelps on the field, KU’s defense struggled to generate much of a pass rush, leaving Sooners quarterback Dillon Gabriel plenty of opportunities to attack and make plays in his first game back from his own injury-related absence.
While Leipold acknowledged again that watching the Kansas defense give up 700 yards of total offense in the loss was “disappointing,” he also made sure to tip his cap to Oklahoma’s offense, as well.
“Two weeks ago we talked about a defense that gave up 11 points. And now… It’s not like, ‘Oh, gee, nobody knows what they’re doing and the players aren’t very good’ or something like that. This team has played good defense and we had a bad day.”
He continued: “That’s something you can be cautious of with a team of that caliber. I mean, they’ve stacked some recruiting classes together at that place.”
Leipold noted that the longer last Saturday’s game went on, the more the suddenly-healthy Sooners started to find their rhythm. But he was proud of the way the Jayhawks hung in there and competed from start to finish, especially when you consider that the team Kansas faced was the team that many had in the Top 10 to start the season.
“It’s not like it’s completely off in that regard,” Leipold said. “So we should respect that and take a look at it and learn and grow.”
Bryant injured his left ankle late in the first half of the loss to Oklahoma and did not play in the second half. And Daniels, KU’s starting QB, who had played his way into the Heisman Trophy conversation through five weeks of the season, missed the second half of KU’s loss to TCU and the entire Oklahoma game.
Before heading into its bye week in Week 9, KU is set to play at Baylor this weekend in an 11 a.m. kickoff on Saturday at McLane Stadium in Waco, Texas.
