Why two important Kansas State defenders aren’t currently practicing for the Wildcats
It was a strange sight.
While the vast majority of their teammates were going through drills and participating in scrimmages at Kansas State football practice earlier this week, Felix Anudike-Uzomah and Will Honas were doing cardio exercises on their own far away from the field. They rode stationary bikes. They swung long, heavy ropes up and down. But they didn’t do much of anything on the actual gridiron, even though they were wearing shoulder pads.
Why?
Even though both players are expected to be difference-makers on defense this season, they have each suffered knee injuries in the past. The Wildcats are trying to let each of them rest when it makes sense to do so. You could call it “load management,” to borrow a term from the NBA.
As of now, it seems like there is little long-term concern with either player. But K-State coaches may continue taking a cautious approach with both of them, even after the season gets underway. That particularly appears true with Honas, a 6-foot-2 and 233-pound linebacker who had a long injury history at Nebraska before he transferred to K-State.
“With all the knee surgeries that he’s had, we have got to be careful about how much wear and tear and daily grind we put on (him),” K-State linebackers coach Steve Stanard said. “He has been a good communicator with us, letting us know how it’s feeling. But I think he is feeling it like you would if you had your knee fixed twice. He has had two (ACL) surgeries. His knees probably feel like mine sometimes.”
Assuming his body holds up throughout the course of the upcoming season, Honas is expected to challenge for a starting spot alongside Daniel Green. At the very least, he will play a key role at linebacker while splitting time with Austin Moore, Shawn Robinson and others.
Even more is expected of Anudike-Uzomah, the Big 12’s preseason defensive player of the year. Some fans were understandably worried when they learned he has been limited in recent practices.
But it sounds as though K-State coaches are simply taking extra precautions to make sure the 6-foot-4 and 255-pound defensive end is ready to go against South Dakota in the season opener on Sept. 3.
“He’s doing good. He started camp practicing,” defensive ends coach Buddy Wyatt said. “We just wanted him to rest that thing a little bit so we will have him for, not just camp but the entire season. We don’t want to irritate that thing too much. It’s more cautionary than anything else. That’s why we didn’t have him out there.”
In any case, both K-State defenders seem much closer to returning to action than Khalid Duke. The senior defensive end/linebacker hasn’t been healthy enough to practice since the beginning of preseason camp as he works to recover from a torn ACL and a hamstring injury.
But K-State head coach Chris Klieman has said he is confident Duke will also be ready to play come September.
This story was originally published August 16, 2022 at 2:53 PM with the headline "Why two important Kansas State defenders aren’t currently practicing for the Wildcats."