When Kansas coach Lance Leipold explained linebacker Bangally Kamara’s absence against Wagner as a “non-contact injury” and said his status would be “unknown for a while,” it didn’t necessarily give the impression that Kamara would return for KU’s very next game.
But as the eight days between the Jayhawks’ 46-7 victory on Aug. 29 and 42-31 loss on Saturday unfolded, a quick return for Kamara did at least seem more plausible, particularly when On3 reported his injury was “not as bad as initially feared” and that he was “expected to miss a few weeks.”
As it turned out, he missed even less than that, and Kamara left his mark on the Border War — even in a loss and even with a large brace on his left leg. On a day when KU struggled to stop the run, he was the only Jayhawk with a pair of tackles for loss (and one of just two players in the game overall) as part of his nine-tackle day, and he broke up a pass for good measure.
Jon Jon Kamara, the redshirt freshman who filled in briefly in Bangally Kamara’s absence against Wagner before an early-game ejection, still ran with the first-team defense early in Saturday’s game, but the former ended up playing 28 snaps to the latter’s 58.
“We made a decision that obviously Jon Jon would still start, but then we would see how (Bangally) felt after warmups, and so that’s the story,” Leipold said.
The story began earlier in the week when Leipold said at his weekly press conference that Kamara hadn’t practiced on Monday, and Kamara also wasn’t included on the Jayhawks’ depth chart.
“He was listed as out,” Leipold said. “He met with the doctors later that day. They talked about some things that could happen. He did not do anything on Tuesday.”
Wednesday was the turning point for Kamara. As Leipold said, the coaches needed to see proof from him that he could go out and play despite the injury, and he took part in practice on both Wednesday and Thursday.
“Eventually throughout the week he started putting pads on and started doing tackling drills and stuff like that, so we knew he was going to be good,” middle linebacker Trey Lathan said.
But the sixth-year senior had always been intending to go on Saturday.
“I really admire that about him,” Leipold said. “A lot of times in today’s era, guys (are like), ‘Well you know, I’ll sit out this nonconference game, we’re open next week, I get a couple weeks’ rest and then I’ll be more closer to 100%.’ And he was like, ‘Coach, I’m playing.'”
Lathan put it simply: Kamara “did what he’s supposed to do.”
“He stayed in treatment, he did all the right things, making sure he was in the building a lot with the trainers, just ready to get back, and he did a lot of work,” Lathan said, “and I’m proud of him today.”
The South Carolina transfer’s swift return to action was a positive development for the Jayhawks as they work back toward a healthy linebacker group. Also promising was the restoration of Jayson Gilliom to the lineup; he played 10 snaps in relief of Lathan (eliminating the need for a defensive role for walk-on Ezra Vedral) after missing the first two games due to injury.
Bowling Green transfer Joseph Sipp Jr. still has yet to make his KU debut, but did go through warmups on Saturday while wearing a brace on his right forearm.
The Jayhawks have plenty of time to get healthier on defense, as their next game is not until Sept. 20, when they will welcome West Virginia to David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium. As it is a conference game, that will be the first matchup for which KU is required to release injury reports in the days prior.
