Iowa State football coaches should keep their game film of Bill Whittemore.

Kansas University coach Mark Mangino — who had said it would “be a real stretch” for his injured quarterback to be ready for the Nov. 22 season finale against ISU — was more optimistic Tuesday about his senior captain’s chances of facing the Cyclones.

“What they told me yesterday is the healing process is going the way they like it and is even better than they had anticipated,” Mangino said at his weekly news conference. “If this continues, he will get back on the field at some point in time this season.”

Whittemore suffered an undisclosed injury during Saturday’s 42-6 loss at Kansas State, and KU’s medical staff said it would take three to 12 weeks for the team captain to recover. The Jayhawks (5-3 overall, 2-2 Big 12 Conference) have four games remaining.

“Our medical staff is very excited about the situation with Bill in the last 48 to 72 hours,” Mangino said. “They are standing by their original thoughts concerning the injury — which is there is a chance for Iowa State — but we can’t count on that.

“This injury is a somewhat peculiar football injury, and it is a complicated injury. The injury itself is not that serious, and they suspect he will be out on the practice field maybe as early as the end of this week or the beginning of next week and be able to function. The problem we face is that injury could lead to a more complicated situation for Bill’s own personal health, and I’m not going to put him in harm’s way.”

Mangino won’t discuss the specifics of Whittemore’s injury, and it’s still unknown who Whittemore’s replacement will be Saturday at Texas A&M (3-5, 1-3).

Mangino said he had not decided whether to take the red-shirt off freshman Adam Barmann, but it was clear he was leaning that way.

“As I stand here today I haven’t absolutely decided,” Mangino said, “but there’s a pretty good bet that we will.”

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Other candidates to replace Barmann include sophomore Brian Luke and junior walk-on John Nielsen.

“We will prepare — in some way, shape or form — all three of those kids,” Mangino said. “The option is there to play the game as a quarterback by committee. I’m not going to prepare all three equally, but in some part of our offense all three will have a role to play.”

Neither Whittemore nor his backups appeared at Tuesday’s news conference.

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Injuries Part II: KU’s secondary played most of Saturday’s game without two key players. Sophomore cornerback Donnie Amadi hurt his right knee in the first quarter and did not return, and freshman nickel back Kenneth Thompson was held out because of an apparent elbow injury.

“We have some guys hobbling around, but it doesn’t look like it is going to keep anybody from playing this week,” Mangino said. “We had a bunch of guys limping around, nothing real critical. I have been informed everyone will play this week. In fact, most of those guys took part in most of the drills yesterday.”

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Injuries Part III: Junior defensive tackle Travis Watkins has missed all eight games because of a broken foot and is unlikely to play Saturday, but Mangino has not ruled out the team captain returning this season.

“He and I talk about the situation everyday,” Mangino said. “We are just going to wait and see. We can’t make a decision until he is 100 percent healthy and ready to play. When that will be, I don’t know. When it is, he and I will sit and talk along with his family and decide whether he wants to play this season or does he want to play next season and apply for a hardship. I am not going to force his hand. He needs to be comfortable with the decision he makes.

“We could use him. The defensive tackle position right now is a position we are not playing consistently well at. We may have to make some personnel changes there.”

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Players of the week: Mangino did not name an offensive player of the week after KU scored a season-low six points against KSU. Sophomore linebacker Nick Reid took defensive honors after a 15-tackle performance. Sophomore long snapper Kevin Kane was special-teams player of the week.