Kansas football coaches don’t expect to know until Saturday whether quarterback Jason Bean will be able to start in the Jayhawks’ road game at Texas.
Offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki, while speaking with reporters on a video call after practice Thursday, said Bean, who got hurt in the first half of KU’s loss to Kansas State this past weekend, is still considered “day to day” as he recovers.
But Kotelnicki said the junior QB practiced again Thursday and has been able to take reps this week as the Jayhawks prepare for their game against the Longhorns (6:30 p.m. Saturday, ESPNU).
“You balance making sure he’s going to be healthy enough to go, getting him ready to go, making sure he’s got enough reps,” Kotelnicki said of the approach KU is taking with Bean, the team’s No. 1 QB in every game so far this season. “But it’s going to be a gametime decision.”
KU head coach Lance Leipold said Wednesday night on his “Hawk Talk” radio show that the Jayhawks are essentially trying to prepare both Bean and sophomore Jalon Daniels to start this week, so that Bean is ready if he’s cleared to play and Daniels is primed to handle QB duties if Bean can’t.
The plan has been for Daniels to use the 2021 season as a redshirt year, and the Jayhawks hope to still make that happen for the 18-year-old QB. Daniels, who appeared briefly in two games earlier this year, unexpectedly had to play in the home loss to K-State when both Bean and backup QB Miles Kendrick got hurt in the first half. Kendrick suffered a season-ending lower leg injury, making it more difficult for KU to keep Daniels on the sidelines.
The game against the Wildcats marked Daniels’ third appearance of the season. The maximum games anyone redshirting can play in is four.
If Daniels ends up starting at Texas, Leipold said the goal is for Bean to be back as the starting QB for the final two games of the season, allowing Daniels to maintain his redshirt.
Said Kotelnicki of Daniels, who went 13-for-19, with 105 passing yards and one TD versus K-State: “He did a great job stepping in the game last week and he’s had a great week of practice.”
Added the O.C.: “So has Jason.”
Daniels started six of KU’s nine games in 2020, when he was a true freshman.
Bean, a transfer from North Texas who joined the program this past summer, has started each of KU’s nine games so far in 2021.
