Kyle Whittingham Gives Updates On Injuries Ahead Of Baylor Game
Sep 4, 2023, 2:17 PM | Updated: Sep 5, 2023, 6:50 pm
SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah Utes turn their attention to a road trip to Waco, Texas in week two as they prepare to take on the Baylor Bears. In his Monday press conference, head coach Kyle Whittingham gave an injury update for Utah football ahead of their first road trip of the season.
Moments before Whittingham addressed the media, Brett McMurphy reported that Baylor will be without their starting quarterback, Blake Shapen, against the Utes.
Utah of course has been dealing with their own rash of injuries having eight to 10 starting players out last week against Florida.
How things are shaking out week two for @Utah_Football.#GoUtes pic.twitter.com/3is9SZNubb
— Michelle Bodkin (@BodkinKSLsports) September 4, 2023
Utah Football Injury Update According To Whittingham
Whittingham is hopeful a few guys will become available this week that were not available last week but noted it will be a day-to-day process and likely not determined until kickoff.
“We hope so,” Whittingham said. “No guarantees, but we hope to get one or two of them back at least. We’ll just see how things go. A lot of those guys are just day-to-day. That’s as good as I can tell you right now.”
An Update On QB1 Cam Rising
Utah’s starting quarterback Cam Rising has continued to make progress and has been fully cleared to participate in practices without limitations this week. As far as what that may mean for his ability to start against Baylor, Whitt says the Utes will have to wait and see how he feels during the week.
“It’s day-by-day,” Whittingham said. “We’ll just see how he responds, how the injury responds. This is his first week of completely no-limits so we’ll see what he can do.”
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How Concussion Protocol Works At Utah
It appears the Utes only had one potentially big injury during their game against the Gators last week as linebacker Karene Reid exited the game with a head injury according to ESPN’s Holly Rowe. Reid did not return to play.
While no exact details have been given on what Reid’s head injury is, one reporter did ask how concussion protocol works during Monday’s press conference.
“It’s about a three or four-step process,” Whittingham said. “I couldn’t tell you exactly, but generally speaking the symptoms have to clear. Once the symptoms clear there is some aerobic workout with no return of the symptoms and all things go, then more of a weight-lifting workout. Maybe a little more taxing on-the-field stuff- if that clears then there is non-padded practice and if that clears then you are good to go.”
Some Insight On Ja’Quinden Jackson
Utah’s starting running back was surprisingly lowkey against the Florida Gators last week and Whittingham gave some insight as to why Jackson wasn’t nearly as productive as many believed he would be.
“He got kind of nicked up,” Whittingham said. “It was something that was bothering him in spring and fall camp showing up again. We planned to have him be more involved, but he was slowed down by an injury and hopefully he’s going to be available this week.”
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— Utah Football (@Utah_Football) August 31, 2023
Michelle Bodkin is the Utah Utes Insider for KSLsports.com and host of both the Crimson Corner Podcast (SUBSCRIBE) and The Saturday Show (Saturday from 10 a.m.–12 p.m.) on The KSL Sports Zone. Follow her on X, Instagram, and Threads: @BodkinKSLsports
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