Mark Stoops shares update on Devin Leary after injury scare
Mark Stoops shared a positive update on quarterback Devin Leary following the Kentucky quarterback’s injury scare in a win over Akron.
In the blowout 35-3 win, Leary exited in the fourth quarter after a vicious shot to the ribs. But thankfully for Kentucky fans, Leary just had the wind knocked out of him.
Stoops confirmed as much after the game, saying Leary could’ve come back in if he had to.
“He could have went back, yeah, yeah,” Stoops said postgame. “It was the (wind knocked out of him), but could have went back in.”
Leary confirmed the same thing, saying he felt just fine after the game and there was nothing to worry about.
“Yeah, just got the wind knocked out of me,” Leary said. “Kind of exposed myself a little bit too much, got the wind knocked out of me but I’m perfectly fine now.”
Leary finished the game 16-of-26 passing for 315 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. He found three different receivers for scores in the game: Re’Mahn Davis, Tayvion Robinson and Josh Kattus.
Devin Leary ‘perfectly fine’ after injury scare
“I mean — you just see a lot of it on the film,” Leary said of the offense. “We just shoot ourselves in the foot a lot, whether it’s, you know, penalties missed, assignment, execution — and we walk away from the game, you know, obviously we’re very thankful and happy to be 3-0.
“But at the same time, there’s so much more we can do, especially as an offense, and we pride ourselves on that. So, definitely a little bit of a bitter taste in our mouth walking away, because we left so many different plays out there — but there’s so much room for improvement for this team.”
With the win, Kentucky improved to 3-0 through the first quarter of the season. The Wildcats will head to Vanderbilt next weekend for an SEC matchup.
“You have to get better,” Stoops said of the team as a whole. “We’re going into the SEC play next week. The nice thing is, we are 3-0. And I like the work ethic and the way we have been practicing. We will continue to do so. We will get better, and, you know, I think the team will be eager to get back out to practice next week, and we have to get things cleaned up.
”We are not playing to our standard upfront on the offensive line, whether we are getting beat, whether it is snaps, holds, you know, just things of that nature. But there is enough blame to go around to all groups in all areas, so we will address it and continue to work to get better.”