That resilient Pinball Wizard made famous by the rock group The Who has nothing on Jonathan Lamb.

In the last five years, Lamb has played wide receiver, quarterback, free safety and now wide receiver again.

Lamb, a 6-foot-2, 190-pound third-year Kansas University sophomore, was a receiver as a junior at Olathe North High, a quarterback his senior year, a scout-teamer in his first year at KU and the Jayhawks’ starting free safety as a red-shirt freshman last year.

Saturday against Tulsa, Lamb made his collegiate debut as a wide receiver, logging considerable duty as a back-up and catching one pass for six yards. In other words, instead of striking blows, Lamb was receiving them.

“I wouldn’t say it was a lot different,” he said, “but it was unusual.”

A walk-on as a freshman in 2002, Lamb was a genuine rags-to-riches story when he surprisingly earned the free-safety job and started all 13 games during the Jayhawks’ Tangerine Bowl season.

In making 89 tackles — fifth most on the team — intercepting two passes (against Texas A&M and Nebraska) and recovering a pair of fumbles, Lamb caught the attention of The Sporting News, which named him a second-team freshman All-American.

KU’s free-safety job appeared in solid hands for the next three years. But it wasn’t to be.

Even though Lamb started all 13 games, he didn’t finish all 13. He suffered what appeared to be a shoulder injury during the third game at Wyoming and didn’t return to duty. A week later against Jacksonville State, Lamb played only about a quarter, apparently still favoring his undisclosed injury.

Then in the regular-season finale against Iowa State, Lamb was hurt in the first quarter and did not return. Nevertheless, he was back in the secondary during the spring. In late July, however, KU coach Mark Mangino announced Lamb would continue to be susceptible to injury if he remained a defender.

“He has a recurring problem that’s not going away,” Mangino said. “We feel that playing wide receiver won’t aggravate it as much.”

Lamb isn’t saying what the injury was, but he did confirm he suffered no recurrence against Tulsa.

“It’s a lot better,” Lamb said. “I feel great right now.”

Meanwhile, the learning process will continue.

“I’m taking it one practice at a time,” he said. “I’ve got a long ways to go, but I feel I’m on the right track.”

After a year of fighting off blockers, Lamb’s most difficult transition has been learning how to throw a block at opposing defensive backs.

“Our whole (receiving) crew needs to focus on that,” Lamb said.

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Nevertheless, blessed with swift wheels, soft hands — he still holds on place-kicks — and a knack for the game, Lamb’s days as a gridiron pinball may finally be over.

• Injury update: Backup quarterback Brian Luke was nursing a “minor injury,” Mangino said on his weekly radio show. He said Luke likely would be unavailable for Saturday’s game.

“If we were pressed we could use him, but we’ve elected to hold him,” Mangino said.

Junior Jason Swanson is the third quarterback on the Jayhawk depth chart.

Mangino also confirmed that senior defensive tackle Travis Watkins would play Saturday. Watkins sat out the second half of the season opener because of an undisclosed injury.