Sophomore offensive guard Micah Jones will have surgery to repair knee cartilage on Tuesday and will be out indefinitely, Coach Rich Brooks has announced.
Brooks said the injury does not appear to be season-ending, but held out the possibility that Jones could use his redshirt season, depending on how quickly he is able to return to playing condition.
Jones was battling Trai Williams for the starting spot at right guard. Brooks said that sophomore Patrick Daly and freshman Garry Williams will be Trai Williams? backups.
Brooks also announced that senior kicker Taylor Begley and senior wide receiver Scott Mitchell have been selected as game captains for the Louisville game on Sept. 4. Game captains are selected on performance from the previous game. In last year?s season finale at Tennessee, Begley made a 45-yard field goal and extended his school-record streak of 77 extra points. Mitchell had career highs with nine catches for 111 yards against the Volunteers.
Begley and Mitchell will join permanent captains Muhammad Abdullah and Tommy Cook for the coin toss of the opener.
Tamme, Drobney, Davis, Scott, Bogue Give UK Good Depth at Tight End: Last season?s finale against Tennessee opened the eyes of many about what Kentucky was capable of doing in the passing game. In that game, the Wildcats? tight end position came alive with the help of a converted wide receiver.
Sophomore Jacob Tamme showed flashes of what he has the potential of doing in the UK offense by grabbing four balls for 55 yards and scoring two touchdowns.
Now hopes are high for Tamme, as well as the rest of the tight ends, that they?ll continue to leave their marks as players in both the passing and running game.
As a group, the tight ends return four players who all have experience, as well as one freshman who had a really good fall camp.
?These tight ends are coming along well in the offense as the offense grows and changes into what we want it to be,? tight ends coach Steve Ortmayer said. ?Jacob Tamme has come in and made great strides. He is going to be a major factor for us in the passing game.?
Moving over from wide receiver, Tamme has had to concentrate on refining his blocking skills. He will be counted on to be as effective in both aspects.
?The spring helped a lot and this fall has helped me get my technique down,? Tamme said. ?I learned a lot of the blocking schemes in the spring and have been really working hard on executing. It is especially challenging considering it?s a new offense. All the tight ends, not just myself, are learning an entirely new offense?
The new offense has pushed all the tight ends to improve at both blocking and receiving.
Looking back at the fall camp as preparation for the Louisville game on Sept. 4 begins, last year?s starter Jeremiah Drobney believes the team has made great improvement in both aspects.
?I think of all us have gotten better in both our blocking and receiving,? Drobney said. ?We?ve made each other better by competing because we all want time on the field.?
Competition was a trademark of the fall camp. This year?s group looks to have five players who are fighting for playing time.
?In the two years since we have been here, we?ve never been this deep at tight end before,? Ortmayer said. ?We?ve always had two guys who could be game players and this year we have four or five. Our numbers are going to allow us to have more guys specialize in certain things.?
Adding to the depth at the position will be senior Jamir Davis from San Francisco, Calif., and sophomore Eric Scott, a native of Woodstock, Ga. The coaching staff likes both players? experience and knows they are good run blockers.
Catching the eyes of the coaches has been freshman Ross Bogue. Ortmayer believes Bogue can be an effective pass catcher and also has been impressive in run blocking SEC-caliber players in practice.
The hope for this tight end corps is they will continue the promise they?ve been showing. They know they?ll be seeing plenty of passes and it?s up them to build on their past for a successful future.
