Liam Coen says Chris Rodriguez is healthy, ready for Tennessee

Chris Rodriguez has hit a wall the last two games, rushing for a combined 41 yards on 15 carries against Georgia and Mississippi State. After three straight games of turnover-free football, he also put the ball on the ground again in Starkville, pushing his fumble total to five on the year (two lost).

His eight-rush, 34-yard effort against Mississippi State resulted in questions regarding his health. He didn’t start for the Wildcats and he wasn’t utilized in typical ground-and-pound fashion.

After brushing over the topic during his postgame press conference, Mark Stoops opened up about Rodriguez’s situation a bit more on Monday.

“Injuries happen.”

“Chris (Rodriguez) was dealing with an issue,” said Stoops. “It was not the wrist last week. I’m not going to sit up here and talk about everything. These young men go through a lot and they go through a lot of practices and do a lot of hitting and things happen throughout the week.

“So, he was dealing with an issue last week, yes. I don’t need to make excuses for Chris, but he was not at full strength.”

He later added that “injuries happen,” confirming that the issue was physical, not mental.

“We’re not withholding information,” Stoops added. “Just like last week with Chris (Rodriguez), things happen, injuries happen.”

“(Chris Rodriguez) has the right mindset this week.”

Fast forward a day, and it appears things went well in practice Monday and Tuesday. As a result, Rodriguez is expected to not only play against Tennessee, but return to his typical self.

Kentucky offensive coordinator Liam Coen said Rodriguez is locked in mentally and appears physically ready to take on the Volunteers.

“Chris has the right mindset this week. I think he knows that it hasn’t been up to par, his standards and our standards,” said Coen. “I think he had a great practice yesterday. He was locked in, focused, detailed, and the same thing today. You can always tell when a player is — you don’t have to beat it into them.

“He knows it hasn’t been good enough and it’s not to his standard, not to our standard. I believe that he’ll come out with a different mentality — and the right mentality — for the game Saturday night.”

Coen has clearly been trying to open things up with the Kentucky offense this season, but knows its biggest strength comes in the run game. After just 66 rushing yards against MSU and 51 against Georgia, Coen knows UK has to get things fixed in that area when Tennessee comes to town.

“We need to get the running game back, go and get our balance back,” he said. “And I think today was a good start.”