Banks Floodman suited up for football practice for the second day in a row Wednesday, but there’s still no word on whether Kansas University’s sophomore linebacker will suit up for Saturday night’s game at Nevada-Las Vegas.

“We had him doing some things out there today,” coach Mark Mangino said after a workout on the practice fields behind Anschutz Pavilion. “It’s kind of a day-by-day issue.”

Floodman injured his right knee during the second quarter of the season opener last Saturday at Iowa State. Mangino has not revealed the severity of the injury, but sources close to the starting linebacker have said Floodman has a torn anterior cruciate ligament. He practiced with a brace on the knee Wednesday.

“Banks was a valued part of our defense,” senior linebacker Leo Etienne said. “I’m not saying he’s out. We don’t know that for sure. If he is out, we have two captains at linebacker that will step it up a notch.”

With Floodman’s condition in doubt, it was unclear after Wednesday’s practice who will start alongside senior co-captains Etienne and Greg Cole.

“I can’t anticipate that until we know the status of Banks,” Mangino said. “We may make a decision tomorrow. It may lead up to (Saturday) warmups. I’m not trying to be evasive. We’re just trying to see if he can go, and if he can go how effective he can be.”

Floodman was still listed No. 1 on a depth chart released Sunday with junior Glenn Robinson listed as the backup.

Robinson, however, didn’t play against Iowa State because of a one-game suspension for unspecified disciplinary reasons. That opened the door for true freshman Nick Reid, whose debut included a sack of ISU quarterback Seneca Wallace.

“You’ll see Nick out on the field quite a bit,” Mangino said. “Having Glenn now helps us at linebacker with some depth. It’s our thought that we will use Nick as much as we can.”

Reid started preseason camp as a quarterback but was moved to safety early during two-a-day practices.

“If I played quarterback, I’d have definitely been red-shirted,” said Reid, who guided Derby High to a 25-3 record in three seasons as a starting quarterback and defensive back. “That’s why I switched to defense. It wasn’t a tough decision. I switched to defense so I could play, but I was expecting limited time and playing on special teams.”

He was moved again and had only a handful of practices at linebacker before playing extensively against ISU because of Floodman’s injury.

“I was nervous at first with all those people watching,” he said. “I didn’t want to mess up. Then when you get into the game, you don’t think about the crowd watching you. You just play ball.”

Those who know Reid weren’t surprised by his ability to adjust to new situations.

“I wasn’t sure how it would work out for him at quarterback,” Derby coach Tom Young said, “but if it didn’t, he’s such a good athlete he could play a lot of positions  receiver, defensive back, linebacker. He’s very coachable. He always caught on to things very quickly. He’s a hard worker.”

If Reid cracks the starting lineup he would be the third former Derby player in KU’s top 11 on defense, joining sophomore tackle Travis Watkins and senior end Charlie Dennis.

“That would really be something,” Young said. “I’m really happy and proud for those three guys.”

Â

Running back update: Mangino hasn’t announced who will start at running back on Saturday. Junior Reggie Duncan is listed as the starter ahead of red-shirt freshman Clark Green.

“Clark has really looked sharp and is going to play a lot,” Mangino said. “Who will start and how we’ll go I don’t know, but look for Clark to play a significant amount.”