Chris Klieman shares injury update on K-State receiver Jayce Brown after UCF win
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Jayce Brown exited early vs. UCF after testing a lingering undisclosed injury.
- K-State also lost three other pass catchers, forcing shifts in offensive strategy.
- Coach Chris Klieman remains uncertain about Brown’s availability for Baylor game.
Kansas State football fans were understandably concerned when Jayce Brown was stuck on the sideline for the vast majority of a 34-20 victory over UCF on Saturday at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
The talented wide receiver was in the starting lineup and ran a few routes on the opening drive. But then he quietly exited with an unspecified injury and never went back in.
His prospects of returning were so low that he changed into sweatpants at halftime and watched the rest of the contest without pads or a helmet.
“He tried to play,” K-State football coach Chris Klieman said. “He had been dealing with something, but he went out there and we thought it was good. We thought he was clear to play. Then when he finally went full speed, he was like, ‘No, I can’t go.’”
The strange thing about Brown leaving under those circumstances is that he didn’t show up as questionable or probable in any of the Big 12’s availability reports leading up to kickoff.
If he was dealing with an injury, shouldn’t K-State have shared that information beforehand?
Well, not exactly. Availability reports aren’t the same as injury reports. Two sources said Brown was suited up for practice all week. So as long as Brown was available at practice, even on a limited basis, and K-State intended for him to play on Saturday, then there was not technically a need for the Wildcats to specify him as anything other than a full go.
He wasn’t the only wide receiver who dealt with an injury on Saturday.
Klieman said that Adonis Moise and Bryce Noernberg were also ruled out early into the game. And usual starter Jerand Bradley hasn’t played since the Army game. So K-State was down four targets in the passing game; Avery Johnson completed passes to eight different players as he threw for 168 yards and two touchdowns.
“We needed a lot of things,” Klieman said. “We only had a few guys healthy at wideout, so we ended up playing a lot more big personnel. That was the way we had to do it to win the game.”
Klieman is hopeful that Brown and many of K-State’s other wide receivers will be healthy enough to play next week against Baylor. But he added, “I don’t know if they’ll get back this week or not.”
Brown has been far and away K-State’s best wide receiver this season. The junior has caught 25 passes for 284 yards and two touchdowns to go along with 104 yards and a touchdown as a runner.
K-State (2-3, 1-1 Big 12) was able to win without him Saturday. But the Wildcats will need him back in the lineup to turn one victory into a winning streak.
This story was originally published September 27, 2025 at 5:04 PM with the headline "Chris Klieman shares injury update on K-State receiver Jayce Brown after UCF win."