Joker Phillips wasn’t willing to fully commit to Derrick Locke playing Saturday for Senior Day, but the senior tailback was.”I’m going to play this week,” said Locke, who has missed the last four games with a shoulder stinger. “I feel pretty good. I felt good out there today. I felt good yesterday. The main thing was to see how I felt banging around a little bit. I banged on them pretty good today.”Locke has practiced Tuesday and Wednesday this week, including contact drills Wednesday. Locke said it’s been frustrating to sit out for four straight weeks, especially with NFL aspirations on the line.”It was rough knowing that this is my last year to show scouts what they need to see and to do what I wanted to do,” Locke said. “It was rough because I didn’t know when (the feeling) was going to come back. They were telling me it might never come back. It might come back in a month. I’m like, ‘You’ve got to come back quicker than that.’ “Locke, who has never lacked in self-confidence, said doubt began to creep into his mind as to when, and if, he would return.”Two weeks into it I still couldn’t feel my arm,” Locke said. “I couldn’t just raise my arm. I could only move my arm about 45 degrees. My nerve just kind of basically shut down in my deltoid (muscle), so I couldn’t really function. Now I’m getting my strength back and I can move it.”Was he scared he wouldn’t come back?”I wouldn’t say I was scared, but I was worried,” Locke said. “I was concerned about being out. I’ve got a family, so this is my life. This is what I want to do. If I can’t play, then what am I going to do? I’ve got my degree, but that’s not the route I want to go.”But Locke, who considered making the jump to the pros last season, said he doesn’t regret returning to UK for his final season of eligibility. “I felt like coming back was the best for me,” Locke said. “I needed to get a lot smoother. I needed to get better on some things, and I feel like I’ve done that early in the season. I feel like I’ve proved what I needed to prove. At the same time, you want to play against your SEC opponents. You want to continue to do good things.”Even though he’s missed four-plus games with the shoulder stinger, Locke still leads UK with 574 rushing yards and seven touchdowns.  Locke expects to have fresh legs for his return – and final game – at Commonwealth Stadium.”I’m ready to get out there and help my team,” Locke said. “You can’t help sitting on the sidelines. I’ve been helping the young guys out, but I need to get out there and play. We need the extra playmaker out there. I’m just going to go out there and do what I can do to help my team.”

Senior running back Derrick Locke

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Head coach Joker Phillips