Mark Stoops on Will Levis' injury, status moving forward

With no Will Levis, Kentucky was the worst version of itself vs. South Carolina. Who knows if having No. 7 under center would have prevented tonight’s jarring 24-14 loss to the Gamecocks, but if the Cats want to salvage the season, it’s clear they need him back ASAP. After the game, Mark Stoops said Levis remains “day-to-day” with a foot/lower leg injury he suffered vs. Ole Miss.

“I’m not sure,” Stoops said when asked if Levis will play next week vs. Mississippi State. “I mean, I really don’t — It’s day-to-day. It’s been day-to-day and it’s day-to-day. So I can’t tell you how that’s gonna respond.”

Stoops shared a few more details when asked about the timeline of the injury this past week.

“We had to get Kaiya [Sheron] ready most of the week because Will was trying and he was getting better, but it’s hard. You know, those are, the injury that he has, it’s just hard to tell. You know, so not trying to play games with anybody. It’s just an injury that when he can play, he will play.”

In Levis’ place, redshirt freshman Kaiya Sheron got his first start. He finished 15-27 for 178 yards, two touchdowns, and an interception. Unfortunately, sacks, penalties, and questionable playcalling prevented Sheron from the debut he deserved.

Levis: “I’ll be good to go for next week”

During a mic’d up segment on the broadcast before the game, Levis told SEC Network’s Jordan Rodgers he believes he’ll be good to go next week vs. Mississippi State.

“I’ll be good for next week. The pain has finally come down enough that…”

From there, the clip trailed off.

If Levis does return, he’ll play behind an offensive line that turned in its worst performance of the season. Coming into this game, South Carolina’s defense only had four sacks. Tonight, the Gamecocks had six for 54 yards. At the end of Mark Stoops’ press conference, Jon Hale asked if Stoops felt the need to consider Levis’ future given the number of hits he’s taken thus far.

“I mean it’s a silly question, Jon. You’ve been around a long time and I respect you. That’s — I mean, I love that guy. And I love every player on this team. Don’t go there.”

Kentucky’s injury report piling up

Levis, Jeremy Flax, Jacquez Jones, and Kavosiey Smoke did not play tonight. JJ Weaver was able to return from his elbow injury suffered vs. Youngstown State. Unfortunately, more names will be added to the injury report. Tayvion Robinson, Dane Key, and Barion Brown were all banged up vs. South Carolina. Stoops did not provide specific updates on his wideouts after the game, instead discussing his team’s ailing health as a whole.

“Yeah, I mean, it’s a tough point in the season. I told the team, it is what it is, so we’ve got to get back and we play seven straight weeks and nobody’s going to feel sorry for us. We’ve got to get back up. I told them, I challenged them to get iced up, get in the training room get healed up and we’ve got to get back at it. We play a really good team coming in next week and we have to regroup and get back to who we are.”

UPDATE: Brown limped off the field at the end of the game but told reporters afterward he’s fine.

“I’m feeling good I just got my legs tangled up but I’m fine.”

Phew.