Aug. 11, 2009

LEXINGTON , Ky. – The Kentucky football team had its first practice in pads Tuesday afternoon on the Tim Couch Practice Fields at the Nutter Training Center.

“We had a pretty good practice today,” Coach Rich Brooks said. “We had some mistakes, particularly a lot of rookie mistakes, but people were flying around. We actually had about 12, 13 minutes of scrimmage at the end. There were some hits delivered and some pretty good things out there. I’m still impressed with some of our depth even though they don’t know exactly what they’re doing yet. There’s no question we have some really good athletic ability out here.”

Brooks announced that either junior Marcus Davis or redshirt freshman Matt Smith would likely start the first game at center after the one-game suspension of Jorge Gonzalez (see below). Davis and Smith will alternate practice repetitions. Davis has played in five varsity games during his career. As a redshirt freshman, Smith has yet to see collegiate game action.

Brooks announced that sophomore offensive guard Jake Lanefski has been diagnosed with a torn knee cartilage that was incurred during practice on Monday. Lanefski is expected to have surgery and miss two-to-three weeks of practice.

Two Players Suspended: Senior center Jorge Gonzalez and sophomore wide receiver Aaron Boyd have been suspended, Coach Rich Brooks has announced.

Gonzalez has a one-game suspension and will be held out of the season opener vs. Miami on Sept. 5. He will continue to practice with the team. Boyd has been suspended for one week of football activity, beginning today. Each player was suspended for violation of team rules. Brooks has no additional comment on this issue.

Brooks also announced that sophomore linebacker Danny Trevathan will miss part of practice on Tuesday and all of Wednesday’s practice in order to attend his grandfather’s funeral. He plans to be back on the field on Thursday.