Will Levis back at practice, "great sign" for Mississippi State

Will Levis opened the week listed as Kentucky’s starting quarterback on the pre-Mississippi State depth chart. He then made an appearance at practice Monday, a “great sign” going into the team’s matchup against the Bulldogs at Kroger Field this weekend, Mark Stoops said on his call-in radio show this evening.

Officially, though, he’s listed as “day-to-day.”

“Will (Levis) is day-to-day,” Stoops said Monday night. “He was out there today and doing some things, and that was a great sign. So obviously, that makes a big difference. It was great to see him out there.”

Levis was forced to miss Kentucky’s game against South Carolina this past weekend with a foot injury, a disappointing 24-14 loss. In his place, redshirt freshman Kaiya Sheron, who finished with 178 yards, two touchdowns and one interception on 15/27 passing.

It was close, though, Stoops made clear. Levis fought to play, but he simply wasn’t ready when kickoff rolled around.

“Without a doubt (he’s champing at the bit),” Stoops said of Levis. “He’s one of the biggest competitors, believe me. If he could play last week, he’d have played, believe me. There’s nothing that would stop him, he just wasn’t ready. That’s simply it, just ran out of time. It was day-to-day, it was close, he just couldn’t perform the way we needed him to.”

Optimism regarding Levis’ return aligns with what the standout quarterback shared with the SEC Network leading up to kickoff against South Carolina. “I’ll be good for next week,” he said.

Stoops said earlier in the day that Levis’ absence isn’t an excuse for how the Wildcats played against the Gamecocks, but it certainly doesn’t help. “Obviously, when you lose one of the top players in college football, it doesn’t help your football team,” he said.

Needless to say, getting him back against the Bulldogs would be huge.

“We have a great one in Will Levis,” Stoops said. “If Will is healthy, he will be on the field.”

Jacquez Jones is out, Jeremy Flax likely back

Levis isn’t the only Wildcat dealing with injury issues. Kentucky was also missing starting linebacker Jacquez Jones and starting right tackle Jeremy Flax against South Carolina.

Where do things stand this week? Bad news for the former, slightly better news for the latter.

“Jacquez (Jones) is not going to be able to go, that’s why he wasn’t on the depth chart,” Stoops said. “Hopefully we’ll have Jeremy (Flax) back. He wasn’t out there today, but I’m hopeful that he’s day-to-day.”