Will Levis explains how valuable the bye week was for his health

Kentucky quarterback Will Levis is rested and ready to go after using the Wildcats’ bye week to focus on improving his health. Levis has been battling a shoulder injury as well as turf toe, and was already forced miss one game this season.

But as Kentucky prepares for a marquee matchup against No. 3 Tennessee on Saturday, Levis told reporters this is the best he’s felt in a while.

“A lot,” Levis said when asked how much the bye week helped him. “I know some guys were able to go home and see some family, and at the beginning of the year, I was kind of looking forward to that. But I had to stay, take care of my body and listen to the trainers. They’ve been awesome throughout this whole process. Props to them. I’ve just got to keep working.

“That’s going to be kind of the process throughout the whole season to feel as good as I can leading up to each game week. This is the healthiest I’ve felt over the last few months. It’s a good opportunity to go out there and perform.”

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In the senior’s last outing versus Mississippi State, he threw for 230 yards, completing 17 of his 23 pass attempts with a 73.9 completion percentage, one touchdown, and one interception.

So far this season, Levis has 1,635 passing yards, a 69.5% completion rate and a 13:5 touchdown pass-to-interception ratio. He is set to battle with Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker, who is a Heisman contender and has the Volunteers offense No. 1 in the country in both points (50.1) and yards (571.7) per game.

As for the Kentucky offense, the Wildcats have struggled to keep Levis clean in the pocket. They’re 120th in the nation in sacks allowed this season with 26 sacks for a total of 182 yards lost.

The kickoff between No. 19 Kentucky and No. 3 Tennessee is at 7 p.m. ET on Saturday in Knoxville.

On3’s Nikki Chavanelle contributed to this report.