All signs point to Jason Bean starting at quarterback for Kansas football this week against Oklahoma State and possibly longer as Jalon Daniels recovers from his back injury.
While the Kansas Jayhawks hold a 5-1 record and can clinch bowl eligibility on Saturday, the team’s quarterback situation is still unclear. Jalon Daniels has missed the past two games and could be out for the foreseeable future if his back cannot heal.
Daniels has thrown for 705 yards, five touchdowns, and one interception during the 2023 season. He and Jason Bean have started three games apiece. Bean is trending to start No. 4, considering Daniels has yet to practice this week and was not even evident on the Kansas football sidelines vs. UCF.
Jalon Daniels did not practice today, per Lance Leipold. #KUfball
— Michael Swain (@MSwain247) October 9, 2023
With a bye week looming, it would be wise for Lance Leipold to let him rest for the homecoming game against No. 5 ranked Oklahoma. That’s what was originally thought, anyway. But if Daniels continues to experience pain during the team’s off days, we might not even see him on the field for weeks to come.
Expect Jason Bean to start for Kansas football until further notice
Kansas football fans are often left in the dark during these situations. Coach Leipold is very quiet about injuries, and Daniels’ status was unknown for several contests last year when he battled a shoulder injury. No matter what the media says or the rumors that people spread, nobody should expect Jalon Daniels to start for Kansas until we see him step onto the field to take a snap.
Cowboys head coach Mike Gundy is prepping for the game with the same mindset.
“We have to prepare for Bean,” Gundy said on Monday. “I don’t know what’s going on with Jalon Daniels, but he’s not been out there a couple of weeks.”
The weekly saga of monitoring whether Daniels will play has become exhausting. Back injuries can be killers, especially for a mobile quarterback like him. He will get better in due time, but that could be for the next month for all we know. The plan the entire time was to get him back for Oklahoma, yet now they are not sure of that either. I wouldn’t even rule out him missing the remainder of the regular season.
Ultimately, there is no reason for us not to be confident in Bean’s ability. He is a terrific game manager and one of the best backups in the country. If Kansas can play its game right, they should be on their way to matching last year’s win total this Saturday.