Kansas football head coach Lance Leipold still wasn’t sure on Tuesday whether his team’s starting quarterback, Jason Bean, will be able to play for the Jayhawks this week at Texas.
“We’ll see,” Leipold said at his weekly press conference, when asked for an update on Bean, who got hurt during the first half of KU’s home loss to rival Kansas State this past weekend.
After both Bean and senior QB Miles Kendrick got injured in a matter of minutes, sophomore Jalon Daniels manned the position the rest of the game.
Bean suited up for the Jayhawks’ practice on Tuesday.
“He did what we asked him, is probably the best way to say it,” Leipold replied, when asked whether Bean was able to participate more in the morning practice than he did during Monday’s session. “He’s not ruled out of this game.”
Leipold described Bean’s status as “day to day,” and said he wouldn’t comment on whether Bean will start at UT on Saturday (6:30 p.m., ESPNU).
KU’s head coach acknowledged the staff will need to decide at some point in the next couple days whether Bean is good enough to play or if Daniels will start versus the Longhorns (4-5 overall, 2-4 Big 12), but didn’t divulge the specifics of that timeline.
One positive in the whole situation, Leipold said, is that the Jayhawks (1-8, 0-6) have Daniels, a starter through most of the 2020 season, available to step in.
“I really tip my hat to him, because he stayed locked in and prepared,” Leipold said. “And I think that showed (vs. K-State), and it shows itself again this week (during practices).”
The starting QB in every KU game so far this season, Bean has completed 56% of his 182 passes, with six touchdowns and six interceptions. In his nine starts, Bean, who joined the program this past summer as a transfer from North Texas, is averaging 139.1 passing yards and 44.3 rushing yards a game.
Daniels started six of KU’s nine games in 2020, when he was a true freshman. Against K-State, Daniels went 13-for-19, with 105 passing yards and one TD.
Kendrick’s season came to an early ending, due to the veteran QB suffering a lower leg injury during the K-State game. But technically his time with the program could continue in 2022.
Though Kendrick is listed on the roster as a redshirt senior, the NCAA’s COVID waiver for the 2020 season gives Kendrick and KU the potential to extend his college career.
Leipold said, as of Tuesday, the coaches hadn’t brought up the topic with Kendrick.
“There’s a lot going on with him that, this isn’t the time to discuss that,” Leipold said.
Kendrick, a 5-foot-10, 203-pound QB who is originally form Morgan Hill, Calif., first joined the program as a junior college transfer in 2018. He appeared in four games that year, as a sophomore, before using it as a redshirt season.
In 2019, when Carter Stanley emerged as KU’s starting QB, Kendrick didn’t play at all. Then, in 2020, as a redshirt junior, Kendrick started twice and played in seven of the team’s nine games.
When Kendrick briefly checked into KU’s game vs. K-State, it marked his fourth appearance of the 2021 season.
In 15 career appearances for the Jayhawks, Kendrick is 96-for-157 as a passer, with 853 passing yards, nine TDs and six interceptions.
A redshirt freshman walk-on and receiver for KU football, Jordan Brown announced Monday his decision to leave the program and enter the transfer portal.
A 5-foot-11, 188-pound receiver from Grand Prairie, Texas, Brown thanked former head coach Les Miles, KU receivers coach Emmett Jones and the current staff in a note he posted to social media.
“I have made the decision that I feel is best for me and my future,” Brown wrote regarding his pending transfer and his desire to seek out another opportunity.
Brown appeared in two games as a reserve in 2020. He recorded his first career catch for four yards against Iowa State, but that was the last time he checked into a game for the Jayhawks. Brown didn’t appear in any of KU’s first nine games this year.
As a high school senior, Brown played at DeSoto High (Texas), where he was teammates with KU redshirt freshman receiver Lawrence Arnold.
I am open & ready for all opportunities… pic.twitter.com/a5Qr5aZ1nT
— Jordan Brown¹ (@JordanBrown6ix) November 9, 2021
