Oct. 11, 2011

LEXINGTON, Ky. – University of Kentucky true freshman tailback Josh Clemons will miss the rest of the 2011 Kentucky football season due to a torn meniscus in his knee, UK head coach Joker Phillips announced on Tuesday.

Phillips said that Clemons had surgery on the knee Tuesday morning. The native of Fayetteville, Ga., was leading Kentucky in rushing this season with 65 carries for 279 yards and two touchdowns. Both of Clemons’ touchdowns this season were game winners.

“On Saturday, we recognized that Josh was a little gimpy and he was trying to go,” Phillips said after practice Tuesday. “On Sunday, he came in for a routine injury report and we got an MRI done yesterday and he had surgery this morning on his knee and is out for the rest of the season.”

Phillips said injuries are just part of football and he expects Kentucky to move forward after the loss.

“That’s football,” Phillips said. “We understand the game and injuries happen. We feel for Josh and feel for the other guys also because he is a special player to the guys on this team. We have to get the other guys better now. They have had some reps because of Raymond’s (Sanders) absence and they should have some experience. Jon Jon (Jonathan George) got to play last week and CoShik (Williams) has been in the game and played a significant role so those guys are going to have to pick it up.”

Phillips was pleased with the team’s performance on the practice field Tuesday, saying the Wildcats had a very upbeat and competitive practice, working mostly on special teams.

“The mood is fine,” Phillips said about the team. “We had an upbeat practice with a lot of fundamentals and a lot of competitive work against each other. We worked a lot on our special teams, especially our return game. Our coverage teams have done an outstanding job.”

Kentucky returns to the practice fields on Wednesday to continue its preparation during the bye week.