Josaih Hayes makes long-awaited season debut for Kentucky following Achilles injury

It’s been a long and difficult journey for Kentucky defensive tackle Josaih Hayes, who was thought to be likely out for the season after suffering a torn Achilles in spring practice. He was coming off his best season as a Wildcat with high hopes going into his final year in Lexington, then potentially missed it all entirely.

Mark Stoops refused to rule him out entirely, though. The closest he came to a confirmation was saying Hayes would be out “the full year or close to it” as he worked his way back from injury.

Then the fifth-year senior made his long-awaited return with three games left in the regular season, racking up four tackles (two solo) against Murray State, good for fourth on the team overall.

He was productive, but considering what Hayes battled through to get to this point, his coaches were simply proud of the fact that he suited up at all.

“I really like that. I like seeing him out there,” Stoops said following the 48-6 win, adding that the fifth-year senior will have one additional season of eligibility to use should he decide to return in 2025. “That’s a tough injury to come back from, as you know. He’s been working hard and it was really good to see him.”

His defensive coordinator wasn’t just ready to hand him a participation trophy, though. Brad White knows the impact the 6-3, 322-pound lineman can make on a game when healthy — and what he can be for the Wildcats in high-profile matchups at Texas and vs. Louisville to close out the regular season.

“To have him back out at practice, then to get him out there, it’s awesome,” White added. “Josaih is a force in there and we were really excited to have the opportunity to have Keeshawn (Silver) and Josaih this year. That didn’t happen with the injury, but to get him down the stretch, that really helped solidify the middle of that defensive line.

“Hopefully we can get guys healthy this week and look a little deeper as we go into next week.”

Kentucky used Murray State as an opportunity to get healthy, as Stoops made clear after the win. The Wildcats were without the likes of Deone Walker, Jamon Dumas-Johnson and J.J. Weaver, among others, on the defensive side of the ball — banged up and hoping to use this one as an extension of the bye week.

That allowed some of the younger guys to get some reps while also letting guys like Hayes get their feet wet after extended absences up to this point.

“We were able to play this game without playing guys at 50%, 60%, you know, 70% trying to get out there and play,” Stoops said. “We tried to keep anybody that was totally cleared played.  If they were not cleared and ready, then we did not play them.  So, hopefully that will help us down the stretch with two big games.”

The goal? Push their chips in on Texas and Louisville as the Wildcats make a run at the postseason.

Hayes will now be a part of that push thanks to his feel-good, ahead-of-schedule return from the Achilles injury.