Kansas quarterback Miles Kendrick tosses a ball to quarterback Conrad Hawley during practice on Saturday, Aug. 14, 2021 at Memorial Stadium. At left is quarterback Jason Bean.

Though Lance Leipold didn’t seem especially worried about it on Saturday, following his Kansas football team’s ninth preseason practice, the head coach and his staff still have a quarterback conundrum on their hands.

The Jayhawks’ QB competition has a little less than three weeks to sort itself out before either sophomore Jalon Daniels, senior Miles Kendrick or junior Jason Bean becomes the Week 1 starter for the Sept. 3 opener versus South Dakota.

Ideally, Leipold would like to see one of the candidates “clearly” pull away as the man for the job — not just for the opener, but for the 2021 season. But it hasn’t happened yet.

“You want somebody to go through it, fight, get the confidence in that,” Leipold said of the camp competition.

As QBs coach Jim Zebrowski, Leipold and offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki evaluate the process, the head coach said there’s a bit of a “balancing act” involved, too. Because as much as the coaches are looking for a QB who makes the fewest mistakes, if no one separates himself as the obvious starter before the season begins, they don’t want the Week 1 QB pressing or thinking he’s going to get benched as soon as he makes one bad decision.

On the other side of the coin, Leipold gave as an example, if the second string QB is right on the starter’s heels entering Week 1 and the starter struggles in that opening game, the coaches are faced with the question of whether the backup deserves a crack at it.

“So that’s kind of the decisions we’ll have to make as we progress,” Leipold said.

Generally, Leipold prefers to find a starting QB and stick with him. The head coach said because both he and Zebrowski used to play the position, they know what it can be like out on the field.

“If you’re going to play like every throw is based on whether you’re staying in the game or not,” Leipold said, “I don’t know if you’re ever going to keep progressing or the team’s going to be what it really needs to be.”

It’s also possible, Leipold brought up, that even if the offense finds its QB No. 1, one of the reserve QBs could still play in certain packages where the coaches think that player’s specific skill set could help.

So far during preseason camp, Leipold, his assistants and players have hesitated to identify a QB that has stood out more than another within the competition. Asked to give an update on their progress following Saturday’s practice, which was open to fans at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium, Leipold said “they’re getting it” and “understanding some things.”

A recurring talking point for the QBs, the coach shared, has been, “We’ve got to be better in accuracy.”

Leipold doesn’t anticipate the competition reaching a conclusion in the coming days. He said some practice sessions are better than others, and the staff, Zebrowski in particular, will keep pushing the QBs as it continues.

“I think we’re looking at the complete package of who’s going to lead the team the right way, who’s going to make great decisions with the ball and then get it to the people that need it,” he said. “Or keep it in their hands.”

KU’s coaches want to find the QB who can keep drives alive, build momentum and play with confidence, too.

As Leipold put it, they’re asking “a lot” of the QBs in a short amount of time this preseason.

“Demanding them to make sure everybody’s lined up correctly, doing things — motions, shifts, the whole thing,” he gave as another example. “We’re challenging them.”