Mark Stoops gives an injury update after the last summer training game

Mark Stoops says his team made it through Saturday's practice game without any serious injuries. After several injuries were reported at last weekend's practice game, the head coach of the Kentucky football team took a more relaxed approach to the second practice game. He kept the balls shorter and used the younger players more often than he did last Saturday.

“It looks like we came out of this pretty clean, which was important,” Stoops said after the second practice game. “I feel good about where we are. Last week when I spoke to you, I said I think we came out of this practice game unscathed.”

“And that didn't really happen. After that, we noticed a few things. Two boys who we will miss a lot, even though they were important to us. But other than that, it was just bumps and bruises, a couple of days and a couple of guys missing some time this week.”

Two weeks before the season opener against Southern Miss, it is a remarkable win for this team that there are no new serious injuries. But there are still some issues from the first practice game that will likely continue into the season. KSR's Matt Jones reported on Chip Trayanum's broken hand suffered earlier this week, with Stoops confirming during his press conference that the Ohio State transfer will be out for some time.

Stoops also confirmed an injury to the wide receiver in the first year Hardley Gilmorewho received rave reviews throughout the spring and summer before suffering an injury last weekend. KSR was the first to report Gilmore's injury to KSBoard last Saturday, and it was expected that he would be out for several weeks. Stoops believes Gilmore will play at least half the schedule before he has a chance to return.

“Hardley will be out for quite some time,” Stoops said. “It will be at least until mid-season or longer.”

While I was waiting for Stoops to begin his press conference, I also noticed a few other players entering the training ground with what appeared to be minor injuries.

Tight end Josh Kattus was undressed for the second practice game and walked around with a bandage on his left leg. Defensive lineman, who transferred from Ohio State, Darrion Henry-Young walked around with a crutch under his left arm. But there is good news: DJ Waller Jr. was changed and took part in the second training game after missing the first due to a minor injury.

But as Stoops mentioned, only two injuries are considered serious. Trayanum and Gilmore meet both criteria. Fortunately, there are still two weeks left until the season opener – plenty of time to rest and recover.

For even more information on Kentucky’s second and final summer practice game, visit KSBoard.